Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	Bryan Adams
landscape	Yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Bryan Guy Adams
birth date	November 05, 1959
birth place	Kingston, Ontario, Canada
genre	Rock, arena rock, soft rock, roots rock, heartland rock, hard rock
instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass, dobro, keyboards, organ, piano, harmonica
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, photographer, social activist
years active	1977–present
label	A&M;, Polydor
website
notable instruments	}}

Bryan Adams, (born Bryan Guy Adams, 5 November 1959) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also had 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television in 1992. He has also won MTV, ASCAP, and American Music awards. In addition, he has won two Ivor Novello Awards for song composition and has been nominated for several Golden Globe Awards and three times for Academy Awards for his songwriting for films.

Adams was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for contributions to popular music and philanthropic work via his own foundation, which helps improve education for people around the world.

Adams was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the 2,435th star in March 2011 and Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998, and in April 2006 he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at Canada's Juno Awards. In 2008, Bryan was ranked 38 on the list of All-Time top artists by the Billboard Hot 100 50th Anniversary Charts. On 13 January 2010, he received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award for his part in numerous charitable concerts and campaigns during his career, and on 1 May 2010 was given the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for his 30 years of contributions to the arts.

Early life

Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada to English parents. From his grandmother, he also inherited a Maltese ancestry. As Adams' father was a diplomat, Adams grew up traveling around the world with his parents. Most of his youth was spent growing up between diplomatic postings in Europe and the Middle East. He traveled extensively through his parents' native England, as well as a year in Tel Aviv Israel, four years in Cascais, Portugal situated close to Lisbon, and a year in Vienna, Austria. Finally in 1973, Adams' family returned to Canada to settle in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Music career

Early career

Between the age of 14-15 Adams worked as a dishwasher to get enough money to buy a Fender guitar, and quit the job once he had it and he started auditioning as a guitarist while rehearsing his own band in his mother's rented basement in Vancouver. Adams was selected to be the temporary singer until they found a proper singer, but they never found one. His auditioning landed him a few jobs, and he quit school to play nightclubs with bands like Shock and later with Sweeney Todd, who released ''If Wishes Were Horses'' with the 15-year-old Adams as lead singer.

In 1978, at the age of 18, Adams teamed up with Jim Vallance and sent a few demo recordings to A&M; Records in Toronto. Not long afterwards he signed with them for the sum of one dollar. Some of the first demos written in 1978 have surfaced over the years, most notably "I'm Ready" (recorded for both the album ''Cuts Like a Knife'' and later his release for MTV Unplugged) and "Remember," which was recorded on his first album. Both songs were covered by other artists even before his first album was released. Also recorded during this time was Adams' first single, "Let Me Take You Dancing," which made the Canadian RPM chart in March 1979 (the b-side was entitled "Don't Turn Me Away").

1980s

Adams' self-titled debut album was released in February 1980, and marked the beginning of what was to become a long songwriting partnership between Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance. With the exception of "Remember" and "Wastin' Time", most of the album was recorded from 29 October up until 29 November 1979 at Manta Studios in Toronto and co-produced by Adams and Vallance. The album was certified gold in Canada in 1986.

Adams' second album, ''You Want It You Got It'', was recorded in New York City in two weeks and it marked Adams' first album co-produced by Bob Clearmountain. It was released in 1981 and contained the FM radio hit "Lonely Nights," but it was not until his third album that he achieved international recognition, popularity and sales.

Adams also co-wrote many songs for other bands during this time including "War Machine" and "Rock and Roll Hell" for Kiss, and "No Way to Treat a Lady" for Bonnie Raitt.

''Cuts Like a Knife,'' which was released in January 1983, was Adams' breakout album due mainly to the lead singles. "Straight from the Heart" was the most successful song, reaching number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Another single, "Cuts Like a Knife" charted at number 15. "This Time" also placed on the Hot 100. Music videos were released for four of the singles from the album. "Cuts Like a Knife" arguably became Adams' most recognizable and popular song from the album. Its music video received heavy airplay on music television channels. The album peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 album chart and achieved three times platinum status in Canada, platinum in the United States and gold in Australia.

Adams' best-selling album, ''Reckless'', co-produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain, peaked at number one on the Billboard 200. The album was released in November 1984 and featured the singles, "Run to You", "Summer of '69", "Heaven", "One Night Love Affair", "Somebody", and "It's Only Love", a duet with Tina Turner. All the singles had accompanying music videos and all charted on the Billboard Hot 100 but only "Run to You", "Summer of '69", and "Heaven" peaked in the top ten. "Heaven" became the most successful single from ''Reckless'' at the time of its release on the pop charts, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the mainstream rock chart. "It's Only Love" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. In 1986, the song won an MTV award for Best Stage Performance. After the release of the album, Adams was nominated for Best Male Rock Performance. The album is Adams' best-selling album in the United States and was certified five times platinum.

In December 1984, Adams and his touring band, which consisted of Keith Scott, Dave Taylor, keyboarder Johnny 'Blitz' Hannah and new drummer Pat Steward, played concerts in Chicago, Detroit, New York and Philadelphia. In early 1985, Adams started a tour throughout the United States, then later Japan, Australia, Europe and at last Canada. After winning four Juno Awards, Adams started a Canadian tour through major cities across that country. Later he headed south towards the American West Coast, culminating with 2 dates at the studded Paladium in Los Angeles.

After the tour in the United States, Adams took part of a grand ensemble of Canadian artists named Northern Lights, who recorded the song "Tears Are Not Enough" for the African famine relief effort. Adams later headed back to Europe for a fifty-city concert tour with rock singer Tina Turner, culminating in April with his return to London to headline three sold-out shows at the Hammersmith Odeon. Adams began the first leg of his tour entitled "World Wide in 85" which started in Oklahoma and ended in October 1985. Adams later visited Vancouver, Canada, and afterward returned to the American East Coast to play 2 sold-out concerts in New York.

The follow-up album to ''Reckless'' was ''Into the Fire'' which was released in 1987. The album was recorded at Cliffhanger Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia and mixed at AIR Studios in London and Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. This album contained the hit songs "Heat of the Night" and "Hearts on Fire" and hit the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 1989 Adams did backup singing for the Belinda Carlisle's song "Whatever It Takes" which appeared on her Album Runaway Horses.

1990s

Adams' next album, ''Waking Up the Neighbours'', co-produced by Adams and Mutt Lange, peaked at number six on the Billboard 200. It was even more successful on the other side of the Atlantic, reaching number 1 on both big European markets, the UK and Germany. The album was released in September 1991 and featured "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", his second 1 hit single in Billboard Hot 100. This song was featured on the album and a movie ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'', starring Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman. The single topped the charts in numerous countries around the world including big markets such as the US, the UK, France, Australia and Germany. "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" spent a record-breaking 16 consecutive weeks at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It also achieved record-breaking sales in the US. Canadian content regulations were revised in 1991 to allow radio stations to credit airplay of this album towards their legal requirements to play Canadian music. Adams won a Grammy Award in 1991 for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television.

Adams further supported the album with his tour, Waking Up the World which started on 4 October 1991, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On 18 December 1991, Adams played two first-ever shows in Reykjavík, Iceland and then performed in the U.S. with a concert at the Ritz Theatre in New York City on 10 January. It was a sell-out in less than twenty minutes. In attendance were music legends Ben E. King and Nona Hendryx. The Canadian leg of the ''Waking Up The World'' Tour kicked off in Sydney, Nova Scotia on 13 January 1992, and wrapped up with a standing room only concert in Vancouver, Canada, on 31 January. In February 1992, he started touring in New Zealand and Australia for seven dates—kicking off with a press conference in Sydney. On 21 February, the tour headed to Japan for approximately a dozen shows in six cities. The tour continued through several European countries in June 1992, including Italy, Germany, Holland and Scandinavia, and in July 1992, Bryan performed for the first time in Hungary and Turkey (where he filmed his video for "Do I Have To Say The Words?"). During the long tour, further singles from the ''Waking Up the Neighbors'' album were released: In the US, the rocky "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" peaked at number 2, and "Do I Have to Say the Words?" reached number 11. In the UK, "Thought I Died and Gone to Heaven" was the most successful single behind "(Everything I Do) I Do it for You" by reaching the Top 10. In September through December 1993, the tour took place in the US. The Asian tour headed to Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong in February 1993, before returning to the US during March through May.

In November 1993 Adams released a compilation album entitled ''So Far So Good'', that again topped the Charts in numerous countries such as the UK, Germany and Australia. It included a brand new song called "Please Forgive Me", that became another number 1 single in Australia as well as reaching the Top 3 in the US, the UK and Germany. In 1994 he collaborated with Rod Stewart and Sting for the single "All for Love" written for the Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie ''Three Musketeers''. The single topped the charts worldwide. It was followed in 1995 by, "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" (song released with the Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie ''Don Juan DeMarco''). It became another number 1 in the US and Australia as well as a Top 5 hit in the UK and Germany. Released in June 1996, the album ''18 til I Die'' contained the UK Top 10 singles "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me" and "Lets Make a Night to Remember". The album peaked at number thirty-one on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States and held that position for three weeks. It was more successful in Europe and Australia and reached the top spot on the UK charts for Adams' third number 1 in a row. The album has been certified platinum in the United States and is Adams last studio effort which has been certified by the RIAA. ''18 til I Die'' was certified three times platinum in Canada and Australia and two times platinum in the UK. On 27 July Adams performed at the Wembley Stadium in London in front of a crowd of about 70,000. It was his second sold-out concert there and it is often considered as his biggest concert ever as it went out live to 25 countries and fans from all over the world came up to watch the performance.It also received rave reviews from critics and fans alike. In December 1997, Adams released ''MTV Unplugged'' with three new tracks: "Back to You", "A Little Love" and "When You Love Someone". "Back to You" was the first single, followed by "I'm Ready", an acoustic version of the ''Cut's Like A Knife'' track. The album was a top 10 success in Germany while both singles reached the top 20 in the UK.

''On a Day Like Today'' was released in 1998 and was the first studio album since ''Cuts Like a Knife'' which wasn't certified by the RIAA. However it entered the Top 5 in Germany and was certified platinum in the UK. It generated two British Top 10 singles: "Cloud Number Nine" and "When You're Gone", a duet with Melanie C of The Spice Girls.

After the release of ''On A Day Like Today'' Adams released ''The Best of Me'', a greatest hits collection that includes two new songs, the title track "The Best of Me" and the dance track "Don't Give Up". The album reached the Top 10 in Germany and was certified three times platinum in Canada and Platinum in the UK. The single from the album, "The Best of Me" became a very successful hit with the exception of the US, where it was not released as a single.

2000–present

In 2002, Adams wrote and performed the songs for the DreamWorks animated film, ''Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron''. The songs were included on the film's soundtrack. The most successful single from the soundtrack was "Here I Am", a British Top 5 and German Top 20 hit. The song also gave him his fourth Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Song from a Motion Picture.

In 2004, ARC Weekly released its chart of top pop artists since the last 25 years and Adams came up at number 13 in the chart with four number-one singles, ten top five hits and 17 top ten hits. Six years after the release of ''On a Day Like Today'', ''Room Service'' was released in September 2004. It topped the charts in Germany and Switzerland and peaked at number four in the UK, selling 440,000 copies in its first week in Europe and thus at debuted at number one on ''Billboard'''s European album chart. The single, "Open Road", was the most successful single from the album and peaked at number one in Canada and number twenty-one in the UK. In May 2008, the album was also released in the US but charted only at number 134 on the Billboard 200.

In 2005, ''Anthology'', the first 2-disc compilation was released, containing two new tracks. The US release features a new version of "When You're Gone", a duet with Pamela Anderson. Also in 2005, Adams re-recorded the theme song for the second season of Pamela's Fox sitcom ''Stacked''.

In 2006, Adams wrote and performed the theme song "Never Let Go" which was featured in the closing credits of the film ''The Guardian'' starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. Adams also co-wrote the song "Never Gonna Break My Faith" for the film ''Bobby''. The song was performed by the R&B; singers Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige and earned him a Golden Globe Nomination in 2007.

Adams released his eleventh album internationally on 17 March 2008. It was appropriately called ''11''. The album was released in the US exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club retail stores on 13 May 2008. The first single released from the album was "I Thought I'd Seen Everything". Adams did an 11-day, 11-country European acoustic promotional tour to kick off the release of the album. The album debuted at number one in Canada (making it his first album to reach that position since ''Waking Up the Neighbours'' in 1991) as well as reaching number two in Germany. In the United States, the album charted at number 80. In May 2009, Bryan Adams announced on his Twitter account that he has started writing and recording a new album in Paris. Bare Bones is certified Gold in India.

Adams was one of the four musicians who were pictured on the second series of the Canadian Recording Artist Series to be issued by Canada Post stamps on 2 July 2009. The total estimated number of Bryan Adams stamps that were printed is one and one-half million. In December 2009, Adams write and produces the song "You've Been a Friend to Me" for the Disney film ''Old Dogs''. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001898/

In February 2010 he released "One World, One Flame" – a track used as a theme song by the German TV Station ARD for their Olympic coverage of Olympic Games in Vancouver.

On 12 February 2010, Adams performed a duet with Nelly Furtado. The song was called "Bang the Drum" and was co-written with Jim Vallance for the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, in front of 60,000 spectators at BC Place Stadium.

Adams performed at a party that Wayne Gretzky and Jaromír Jágr attended during Olympics, this brought all three together once again, following Gretzky's final game in 1999 at Madison Square Garden, when Gretzky then played for the New York Rangers and Jagr was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Adams then sang the Canadian national anthem and ad-libbed a line to acknowledge Gretzky's departure, singing, "We're gonna miss you Wayne Gretzky."

Adams was one of several well known Canadian musicians to visit Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at his official residence for an informal "jam session". His latest album, Bare Bones, which is a compilation of his greatest songs has been certified gold in India, and he thanked all his Indians fans for giving him such support.

On Feb 19, 2011 Bryan Adams and his band played in Kathmandu, Nepal making him the first ever international artist to rock Nepal which was organized by ODC Network (P) LTD. Bryan Adams performed at the opening ceremony of ICC World Cup Cricket 2011 on 17 February in Dhaka, Bangladesh and also performed in a solo concert in the next day.

On March 14, 2011, Adams announced that he and co-founder of his foundation and girlfriend, Alicia Grimaldi, were expecting a baby and on April 22, 2011, Grimaldi gave birth to a daughter, Mirabella Bunny.

Live Performance

Adams is frequently noted as being one of the greatest live acts in Canadian music. He is widely bootlegged and known to perform as long as 3+ hours. Adams is also noted for reviving stadium rock in 1985 alongside U2 and other acts. Adams performed for the first on a tour of Canada with his then-band Shock in 1976. When later asked about the band Adams said, "We were just shocking". Adams has said that he learned from the tour the importance of writing your own material. Adams played a tour for his album Bryan Adams(Album) in 1980 and has performed regularly since then. Adams has said that he has written some songs such that "They can be easily performed live".

Adams is famed for his legendary concert tours. The "World Wide in 85" was a massive commercial success for him. He for the first time played massive Stadiums and Arena's. Adams played for the first time in the major markets of the UK in 1987 on his "Into The Fire Tour". Adams then played the massive "Waking Up The World Tour". The tour is known to be Adams' 2nd greatest and of the finest Stadium rock tours of all time. Adams played the "So Far So Good" from 1993 to 1994 and it continued from the earlier tour.

Adams christened a few venues in Canada like Palladium and GM Place in early 1996. Adams played the Rock Am Ring festival in Germany. Adams kicked off, now what is known to be his greatest tour - "The 18 Til I Die Tour" in May 1996. The tour featured the biggest production to date at a Bryan Adams Concert. Adams played on 27 July 1996 to what he calls his best gig to date at Wembley Stadium which Adams describes as "The best place to play a rock n roll gig and the place for major acts to be". Adams played the "White Toque Tour" in 1998-99 and his band now became a 3-piece. It featured some of the biggest demands for Adams concert tickets. Several later tours include "Here I Am Tour" (2002–03). Adams played his next tour "Room Service" and it featured a 5-piece band and was a big success with the fans. Adams played the "Bare Bones Tour" from 2008 to 2011, his first solo acoustic tour. He felt it was a very unique tour. Also, Adam's started the year 2011 with an unexpected tour to some countries like Bangladesh and Nepal. He also performed in Mumbai and Pune in India. On November 24, 2011 Bryan Adams will start the 20th Anniversary tour for his album Waking Up The Neighbours album, the tour Starts in Newcastle, United Kingdom and will feature his full band. It is unknown at this time if Adams will bring that tour to the rest of the world in 2012, it is a wait and see what happens at this point.

Social activism

Most of Adams' philanthropic activity is dedicated to his foundation "The Bryan Adams Foundation", which aims to advance education and learning opportunities for children and young people worldwide, believing that an education is the best gift that a child can be given. The foundation is mostly funded by his photographic activities.

Since the 1980s, Adams has participated in concerts and other activities to help raise money and awareness for a variety of causes. His first high profile charity appearance came in 1985 when he opened the US transmission of Live Aid from Philadelphia. In June of the next year, Adams participated in the two-week Amnesty International "A Conspiracy of Hope" tour alongside Sting, U2 and Peter Gabriel. He performed the Pink Floyd songs ''What Shall We Do Now?'' and ''Young Lust'' during the performance of ''The Wall'', and then joined Waters, Joni Mitchell, Cyndi Lauper, Van Morrison, Paul Carrack and others to perform Waters' "The Tide Is Turning" to close the concert. His version of ''Young Lust'', peaked at number 7 at Mainstream Rock Tracks.

During his tours of 1992-1994, Adams successfully campaigned for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary with Greenpeace Chairman David McTaggart. The two of them distributed over 500,000 postcards at concerts around the world encouraging people to write to politicians of countries blocking the vote, encouraging them to vote ''yes'' for the creation of the sanctuary at the meetings of the International Whaling Commission. IWC officially created the sanctuary on 26 May 1994. http://weblog.greenpeace.org/oceandefenders/archive/2006/12/i_was_there_how_the_south_1.html

On 24 April 1993, Adams joined Farm Aid VI alongside Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Ringo Starr.

On 29 January 2005, Adams joined the CBC benefit concert in Toronto for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Twenty years after performing at Live Aid in the USA, Adams played at Canada's Live 8 show in Barrie, Ontario. Later that year, he performed in Qatar and raised £1.5M ($2,617,000) from the concert. He also auctioned a white Fender Stocaster guitar signed by many of the world's prominent guitarists. The guitar raised a total of 3.7 million US dollars for charity and thus set a record as the world's costliest guitar. The money went to Qatar's "Reach Out to Asia" campaign to help the underprivileged across the continent. Money raised also went to some of his own projects like rebuilding a school in Thailand and building a new sports center in Sri Lanka, both of which had been devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

On 29 January 2006, Adams became the first Western artist to perform in Karachi, Pakistan after the 11 September attacks, in conjunction with a benefit concert by Shehzad Roy to raise money for underprivileged children to go to school. Some of the proceeds of that concert also went to victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

On 18 October 2007, Adams was billed to perform in Tel Aviv and Jericho as part of the OneVoice Movement concerts, hoping to aid in solving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Adams supports the animal rights group PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals) by shooting photos for them and writing letters. He's written to the CEO of KFC restaurants in Canada in November 2007, asking them to become leaders in using more modern and more humane methods of killing chickens. Adams has been a vegan since 1989 and was also a nominee for PETA's "Sexiest Vegetarians of the Year".

On 25 May 2005, Adams raised £1.3M with cousin Johnny Armitage, from a concert and auction entitled Rock by the River for the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. On 15 May 2006, Adams returned to London to attend the Hope Foundation's event (hosted by designer Bella Freud), helping to raise a portion of the £250,000 to support the Palestinian refugee children. The following June, he offered individuals from the public the chance to bid to sing with him live in concert at three different charity auctions in London. Over £50,000 was raised with money going to the NSPCC, Children in Need, and the University College Hospital. On 28 February 2008 he appeared in One Night Live at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada with Josh Groban, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden and RyanDan in aid of the Sunnybrook Hospital Women and Babies Program.

To support the peace in Georgia, Adams played a special outdoor concert in Tbilisi, on 19 September 2008.

He played at The Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Born Free Foundation at "Wild and Live" on 14 November 2009. His foundation raised £170,000 for Kids Company, a UK based charity that helps underprivileged and abused children in London, England.

As a photographer

Adams has had his photographs published in British Vogue, L'uomo Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, Interview magazine and i-D, among others. His other photographic efforts include founding Zoo Magazine, the fashion/art magazine based in Berlin, Germany which he shoots for regularly. Adams is also currently Editor at Large and regular photographer for Zoomer Magazine, a Canadian periodical focused on topics relevant to the baby boomer generation. On 1 June 2005, he published his first book of photos in the United States with Calvin Klein called ''American Women''; proceeds from this book go to breast cancer research for programs at the Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He released a similar book of photos called ''Made In Canada'' in December 1999. Both these books were dedicated to his friend Donna, who died of the disease.

As a photographer, Adams has worked with many of his musical peers, including Mick Jagger, Arcade Fire, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Robert Plant, Take That, Joss Stone, Plácido Domingo, Sarah McLachlan, Celine Dion, Billy Idol, Moby, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse, t.A.T.u., Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, Bryan Ferry, Lenny Kravitz, Die Antwoord, and Morrissey to name a few. On 27 November 2000 Adams played onstage with The Who at the Royal Albert Hall. A DVD of the concert was issued. Adams photographed the band and his photos appear in the DVD booklet.

In 2002, Adams was invited, along with other photographers from the Commonwealth, to photograph Queen Elizabeth II during her Golden Jubilee; one of the photographs from this session was used as a Canadian postage stamp in 2004 and again in 2005 (see Queen Elizabeth II definitive stamp (Canada)), another portrait of both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Bryan Adams supports the ''Hear the World'' initiative as a photographer in its aim to raise global awareness for the topic of hearing and hearing loss. Adams has shot covers for their magazine, a quarterly culture and lifestyle publication dedicated to the topic of hearing.

He photographed Michael J. Fox and Tatjana Patitz in the 2011 Carl Zeiss AG company calendar in New York City in the summer of 2010. The focus was about the size difference of the subjects in a comedic presentation.

His photographic exhibitions include:

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 1999

McCord Museum, Montreal 2000

Saatchi Gallery, London 2000

Photokina, Köln (Cologne), Germany 2001

ICA, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London 2004

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 2004

Calvin Klein, NYC, Dallas, Paris 2005

Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London 2005-06

Il Tempio Di Adriano, Rome, Italy, July 2006

Photokina, Köln (Cologne), Germany, September 2006

Leica Gallery, Vienna, Austria, November 2006

Galerija Fotografija, Ljubljana, Slovenia, November 2006

H.Stern exhibition, São Paulo, Brazil, March 2007

PhotoEspana, Madrid, Spain, Fotografos Insospechados (Unsuspected Photographers) Mickey Rourke photographs, May–July 2007

Nunnington Hall, North Yorkshire, England, May–June 2007

401 Projects, New York City, September–November 2007

The Hospital, Covent Garden, London, England, November 2007 (Modern Muses)

The National Portrait Gallery, London, England, February–May 2008 (Modern Muses)

Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany, May 2008 (Photos of the German National Football Team)

14th Street Gallery, New York City, May 2008 (Hear The World) (plus other exhibitions in Berlin and Zurich with the same show)

Saatchi Gallery, London, July 2009 (Hear The World)

Calvin Klein American Women 2010, New York City, September 2010

Discography

Studio albums

''Bryan Adams'' (1980)

''You Want It You Got It'' (1981)

''Cuts Like a Knife'' (1983)

''Reckless'' (1984)

''Into the Fire'' (1987)

''Waking Up the Neighbours'' (1991)

''18 til I Die'' (1996)

''On a Day Like Today'' (1998)

''Room Service'' (2004)

''11'' (2008)

Live albums

''Live! Live! Live!'' (1988)

''MTV Unplugged'' (1997)

''Live at the Budokan'' (2003)

''Live in Lisbon'' (2005)

''Bare Bones'' (2010)

Compilation albums

''Hits On Fire'' (Japan only 1988)

''So Far So Good'' (1993)

''The Best of Me'' (1999)

''Anthology'' (2005)

''Icon'' (USA only 2010)

Soundtrack albums

''Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron'' (2002)

''Colour Me Kubrick'' (2005)

Awards

In addition to his success at the Junos and Grammys and other music awards, Adams was also nominated for his fifth Golden Globe in 2007 for songwriting on the film ''Bobby'' which was sung by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige, and has been nominated three times for Academy Awards for writing music in film.

File sharing lawsuit

"Somebody" was one of 24 songs in the first file-sharing copyright infringement lawsuit brought by major record labels in the United States to be tried by a jury.

References

External links

Category:1959 births Category:A&M; Records artists Category:Canadian activists Category:Canadian expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Canadian male singers Category:Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Canadian people of English descent Category:Canadian people of Maltese descent Category:Canadian photographers Category:Canadian rock guitarists Category:Canadian rock singers Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:Canadian songwriters Category:Canadian vegans Category:English-language singers Category:Fashion photographers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Juno Award winners Category:Living people Category:Members of the Order of British Columbia Category:Musicians from British Columbia Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:People from Kingston, Ontario Category:People from North Vancouver Category:People of Maltese-British descent Category:Portrait photographers Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	Melanie C
background	solo_singer
birth name	Melanie Jayne Chisholm
legal name	Melanie C
alias	Melanie C.Sporty Spice
born	January 12, 1974Whiston, Lancashire, England
origin	London, England, UK
genre	Pop, pop rock, britpop, dance
occupation	Singer-songwriter, businesswoman, actress
years active	1994–present
label	Virgin RecordsRed Girl Records
associated acts	Spice Girls, Bryan Adams, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
website	}}

Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974, Whiston, Lancashire, now Merseyside) is an English singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman professionally known simply as Melanie C (or Mel C). She is best known as one of the five members of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed "Sporty Spice". She toured the world for years with the Spice Girls, gaining worldwide popularity and when the Spice Girls decided to pursue solo careers, Melanie decided to produce her own brand of music, in 1999 she released her first studio album ''Northern Star'' which sold 4 million copies worldwide. After the release of Northern Star Melanie battled depression and an eating disorder, and released her second studio album in 2003, ''Reason''. Melanie was victorious in her battle against depression and eating disorder, and released her third studio album two years later in 2005, ''Beautiful Intentions'' which became her second most successful album commercially. In 2007 she released her fouth studio album ''This Time'' sporting a new indie sound. Shortly after the release of This Time, Melanie along with the four other members of the Spice Girls, confirmed their return as a band for their The Return of the Spice Girls World Tour. After the tour ended, she announced that she was pregnant with her first child and gave birth in February 2009. Melanie then signed on for a six month deal to play Mrs Johnstone in the London West End play ''"Blood Brothers"''. In May 2011, Melanie announced that she was working on her fifth studio album ''The Sea,'' due for release in September 2011.

Melanie has earned nominations for BRIT- and ECHO awards, has sold more than 10 million records as a solo artist and holds the third position for most United Kingdom number-ones by a female artist and is the only female to reach UK Official Singles Chart at number one as a part of quartet, quintet, duo and as a solo artist.

Biography

Early life

Chisholm was born on 12 January 1974 at Whiston Hospital, Whiston on Merseyside. Raised originally in the Liverpool suburb of Rainhill, and then Widnes, Cheshire she attended Fairfield High School where she studied singing and dancing. After leaving school at age 15, Chisholm studied for a diploma course in dance, singing, drama and musical theatre at the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts in Sidcup, Kent. During college, she replied to an advert in ''The Stage'' by Chris and Bob Herbert, who were looking to form a new girl group, later to become the Spice Girls. She left college just short of completing her three-year course and gained teaching qualifications in Tap and Modern Theatre Dance with the ISTD.

Spice Girls

In 1994, she joined the Spice Girls (then still called Touch) after the original fifth Touch member, Lianne Morgan had to leave the group. In 1996, Chisholm, along with Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Beckham (at that time Victoria Adams), shot to fame with the release of "Wannabe". Because Mel C usually wore a tracksuit with her hair in a ponytail and sporting the attitude of a tomboy, she was called Sporty Spice. After a third album release, ''Forever'' (UK #2), the members went their separate ways, and Chisholm developed a successful solo career.

Virgin Records

Chisholm took her first steps in establishing a solo career in late 1998 by singing with Canadian rocker Bryan Adams on the song "When You're Gone". Her debut album ''Northern Star'' was released in 1999. A track from this album ("Ga Ga") was included on the ''Big Daddy'' soundtrack before her own album's release. Singles "Goin' Down" and "Northern Star" were met with promising success, but the third single "Never Be the Same Again", featuring TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, became her first UK number-one single as a solo artist, also a number-one single in the Netherlands, a Top Five hit in Germany and No.2 in Australia. Chisholm released a fourth single from ''Northern Star'', a dance remix of "I Turn to You", and earned herself a second number-one single in both the UK and the Netherlands. "I Turn to You" reached No.2 in Germany, No.11 in Australia and eventually climbed to the top of the ''Billboard'' dance chart in the United States. ''Northern Star'' was re-released with the single versions of "Never Be the Same Again" and "I Turn to You", and eventually peaked at number four on the United Kingdom album chart and number six in Germany.

"If That Were Me" was chosen as the fifth and final single from ''Northern Star'' and proceeds were donated to a charity for the homeless; it peaked at number eighteen in the UK. ''Northern Star'' is certified three times platinum in the United Kingdom for shipping 900,000 copies, platinum in Germany for selling over 500,000 copies, gold in Brazil for selling 100,000 copies, and gold in Australia for selling over 35,000 copies. Chisholm then went on her Northern Star World Tour, performing in countries such as Canada, Israel, Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

From May 2001 – November 2002 Chisholm toured for her album.

After a break from medias and public life and problems in her personal life, Chisholm released her second studio album, ''Reason'', in March 2003. The album included production from a series of collaborators including Gregg Alexander (New Radicals, Ronan Keating), Marius De Vries (Madonna), Dr Robert of The Blow Monkeys, David Arnold (Björk) and Matt Rowe, co-writer of the Spice Girls' "Wannabe". The lead single from ''Reason'' was "Here It Comes Again", which peaked at number seven in the UK, with the album entering the UK album chart a week later at number five, but quickly fell off the chart. The album also entered at number 12 in Germany and No.21 in Switzerland.

Other singles from the album were "On the Horizon" (UK number fourteen, written with Gregg Alexander), "Let's Love" in Japan (where the song accompanied a Toyota commercial), "Yeh Yeh Yeh" in mainland Europe and, finally, a UK double A-side of "Melt"/"Yeh Yeh Yeh", which achieved a disappointing UK chart position of number twenty-seven. After a series of disappointments and the relative failure of "Melt"/"Yeh Yeh Yeh", Chisholm parted ways with her label, Virgin Records. ''Reason'' has been certified gold in the United Kingdom.

Red Girl Records

Chisholm spent much of 2004 working on new material and setting up her own record company, Red Girl Records. Without major label backing, her activities are decided on and funded by herself, alongside her business partner and manager, Nancy Phillips. In April 2005, Chisholm released her third album, ''Beautiful Intentions''. The Adam Argyle-penned "Next Best Superstar" was chosen as the lead single and was released simultaneously in the UK, Europe, and Australia. The single peaked at number ten in the UK and reached the top of the Germany radio airplay chart for several weeks. A second single, "Better Alone", was released but later restricted to purchase from the iTunes Store (for digital download) and from her official online shop. Chisholm released "Better Alone" in 2006 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and some other European countries. The third single from her third album was "First Day of My Life", a previously unheard Chisholm recording written by Guy Chambers and Enrique Iglesias. "First Day of My Life" topped the charts in several European countries. The single became one of the biggest hits of 2005 in parts of Europe, reaching number one position in Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and Germany for two weeks (Chisholms first No.1 single here), but it was never released in the UK. ''Beautiful Intentions'' has been certified gold in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and platinum in Portugal, where it spent nine weeks at number one.

In early 2007, Chisholm released her fourth album, ''This Time''. It features writing collaborations with Adam Argyle, who written six tracks for new album, Peter-John Vettese, Guy Chambers and Cathy Dennis (amongst others). The first single released from the project was the international hit "The Moment You Believe", primarily released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it became a top twenty hit. The single also peaked at number 1 in Spain for two weeks and was a hit in several other European countries. In the UK, Chisholm released the track "I Want Candy", which peaked at number twenty-four and featured on the soundtrack to the film of the same name. The single peaked at number nine in Italy and Denmark. The second single from the album ''This Time'' was "Carolyna", released in June in the UK and across Europe. Although it underperformed in the UK, it became a top five radio hit in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and a top twenty hit in Italy. In October 2007 in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Austria Chisholm released the single "This Time". A new version of the song was recorded for the release. It featured a B-side track called "We Love To Entertain You", which was used for 2007's Pro7 Starforce campaign in Germany.

In November 2007, Chisholm reunited with the Spice Girls for a ''Greatest Hits'' album release and a three-months world tour. When the tour reached its first two-day break, Chisholm performed an acoustic solo set at The Mint in Los Angeles on 6 December, another one in The Grand Ballroom in New York City and a third solo performance in Toronto, Canada. In February 2008, Chisholm released her fourth album ''This Time'' in Canada on 8 April 2008, followed by a full Canadian tour in May 2008. The first single was "Carolyna". "Understand" was released as a second single in Canada on 25 July. The video was filmed largely in Toronto, but several live clips were included from her various Canadian performances as well.

In May 2009, Chisholm announces the release of a DVD with her concert at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manchester (2008), in aid of the Caron Keating Foundation. The DVD also includes two new songs: "Blue Skies All the Way" and "Paris Burning". The Mirror reported in July 2009 that Melanie is to release a new album in 2010, however an album failed to materialise in 2010 and Chisholm has since confirmed via her Twitter feed that she is back in the recording studio and aiming for a release date in 2011. In December 2009, she joined BBC Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball on a special New Year's Eve radio programme featuring the Great British Songbook of the 90s, make it the part of BBC Special Christmas Season 2009.

In early 2011, Digital Spy reported that Melanie is working with DJ and club scene producer Jodie Harsh. The report indicates that Chisholm's 5th album will move away from her previous rock led efforts going for a more commercial club oriented electronic approach, music in vein to her earlier smash hit "I Turn to You". In May 2011, Chisholm announced via her official website, that the first single of her new album entitled "Rock Me" would be released in Germany, Switzerland and Austria 24 June 2011. The single has been chosen as the 'official' song for German TV channel ZDF’s coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. According to information in singers official site, music video for the new single was filmed in Manchester on 12 May 2011. On 8 June 2011, it was announced that "Rock Me" will be available worldwide on iTunes. Upon release "Rock Me" went top 40 on the German singles chart. The second single "Think About It" was announced on the singers website. The video for "Think About It" premiered on MelanieC.net on 15 July 2011.

Acting career

In the early to mid 1990s Chisholm made several appearances in television commercials and music videos while trying to pursue her music career. It was not until The Spice Girls became popular that she made regular television appearances and played herself in many commercials. In 1997, Chisholm's feature film debut came in ''Spiceworld The Movie'' playing herself alongside her bandmates. In 2000, Chisholm played herself in an episode of ''The Norm Show'' while promoting her girl band's third studio album ''Forever''.

She revealed in an interview with Nylon Magazine in December 2009, that she is interested in pursuing a serious acting career in film. In 2009, after having her first child, Chisholm signed to perform the role of Mrs Johnstone in the musical ''Blood Brothers'' by Willy Russell in London's West End'. She performed role for 6 months, commencing November 2009. She was nominated for the Best Actress in a Musical category at the 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards. Melanie reprises the role for a limited 2 week engagement at the Liverpool Empire Theatre in November 2010.

Personal life

Her younger half-brother Paul O'Neill is a racing driver and drives for Techspeed in the British Touring Car Championship.

Chisholm is friends with ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, who also played guitar on her first solo album ''Northern Star''. Her favourite singers include Madonna and Stevie Wonder; her favourite film is ''Jurassic Park''. Chisholm is a passionate supporter of Liverpool F.C., she named her label Red Girl Records after LFC, and, her favourite players at the club ironically got christened Spice Boys as a result of links with her and Simon Fuller.

She has been in a relationship with property developer Thomas Starr since 2002, after meeting him during a holiday In Barbados that same year. They currently share a £1 million country home at Catbrook, outside Chepstow, Monmouthshire.

In August 2008, it was announced that Chisholm and Starr were expecting their first child together. On 22 February 2009, Chisholm gave birth to a baby girl at the Portland Hospital in London. The baby weighed 3.7 kg (8 lbs 3oz) and was named Scarlet Starr. Chisholm is the last of the Spice Girls to become a mother.

Chisholm has been open about her battles with clinical depression which she has experienced sporadically throughout her life.

The singer is noted for her tattoos. Most of them are along eastern lines – among them a lotus flower, a phoenix and a dragon, and Tibetan symbols for love and happiness. She has 11 tattoos on her body with the last done in 2007 at Hanky Panky's in Amsterdam.

Discography

1999: ''Northern Star''

2003: ''Reason''

2005: ''Beautiful Intentions''

2007: ''This Time''

2011: ''The Sea''

Filmography

Films

1997: ''Spiceworld The Movie'' ... Herself (Lead Role)

Television

2003: ''Bo Selecta'' ... Herself (Cameo)

2007: ''Keith Lemon's World Tour'' ... Herself (3 Episodes)

2011: ''Tonight's the Night ... Herself

Stage Work

2009–2010: ''Blood Brothers'' ... Mrs Johnstone (London West End and Liverpool)

Tours

1999 – From Liverpool to Leicester Square

2000 – Northern Star UK Tour

2001 – Northern Star World Tour

2003 – Reason UK & Ireland Tour

2004 – The Barfly Mini-Tour

2005 – Beautiful Intentions European Tour

2005 – Beautiful Intentions German Tour

2008 – This Time Canadian Tour

References

External links

Category:1974 births Category:Bonnier Amigo Music Group artists Category:English female singers Category:English pop singers Category:English rock singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English businesspeople Category:English vegetarians Category:Female rock singers Category:Living people Category:People from Whiston, Merseyside Category:Spice Girls members Category:Alumni of Bird College

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	Rod Stewart
background	solo_singer
birth name	Roderick David Stewart
alias	"Rod the Mod"
born	January 10, 1945North London, England
instrument	Vocals, guitar, harmonica
genre	Rock, pop, blues rock, soul
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
years active	1964–present
label	Mercury, Warner Bros., J
associated acts	Shotgun Express, The Steampacket, The Jeff Beck Group, Faces
website	RodStewart.com
notable instruments	}}

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry.

With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group and then Faces. He launched his solo career in 1969 with his debut album ''An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (US: The Rod Stewart Album)''. His work with The Jeff Beck Group and Faces proved to be influential on the formation of the punk rock and heavy metal genres.

With his career in its fifth decade, Stewart has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best selling artists of all time. In the UK, he has garnered six consecutive number one albums, and his tally of 62 hit singles include 31 that reached the top 10, six of which gained the number one position. He has had 16 top ten singles in the U.S, with four of these reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists". He was voted at #33 in ''Q Magazine'''s list of the top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #59 on ''Rolling Stone'' 100 Greatest Singers of all time. In 1994, Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early life

Roderick David Stewart was born in Highgate, North London, the youngest of the five children of Robert Stewart and Elsie Gilbart. His father was Scottish and had been a master builder in Leith, Edinburgh, while Elsie was English and had grown up in Upper Holloway in North London. Married in 1928, the couple had two sons and two daughters while living in Scotland, then they moved to Highgate. Stewart came after an eight-year gap following his youngest sibling; he was born at home during World War II, half an hour after a German V-2 missile warhead fell on the local Highgate police station.

The family was neither affluent, nor poor and by all accounts Stewart was a spoiled child as the youngest; Stewart has called his childhood "fantastically happy". He had an undistinguished record at Highgate Primary School and failed the eleven plus exam. He then attended the William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School in Hornsey. His father retired from the building trade at age 65, then opened a newsagent's shop on the Archway Road when Stewart was in his early teens; the family lived over the shop. Stewart's main hobby was railway modelling.

The Stewart family was mostly focused on football; Robert had played on a local amateur side and managed some as well, and one of Stewart's earliest memories were the pictures of Scottish players such as George Young and Gordon Smith that his brothers had on the wall. Rod was the most talented footballer in the Stewart family and was a strong supporter of Arsenal F.C.. Combining natural athleticism with near-reckless aggression, he became captain of the school football team and played for Middlesex Schoolboys as centre-half.

The family were also great fans of the singer Al Jolson and would sing and play his hits. Stewart collected his records and saw his films, read books about him, and was influenced by his performing style and attitude towards his audience. His introduction to rock and roll was hearing Little Richard's 1956 hit "The Girl Can't Help It" and seeing Bill Haley & His Comets in concert. His father bought him a guitar in January 1959; the first song he learned was the folk tune "It Takes a Worried Man to Sing a Worried Song" and the first record he bought was Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody". In 1960, he joined a skiffle group with schoolfriends called the Kool Kats, playing Lonnie Donegan and Chas McDevitt hits.

Stewart left school at age 15 and worked briefly as a silk screen printer. Spurred on by his father, his ambition was to become a professional footballer. In 1961 he joined on as an apprentice with Brentford F.C., a Third Division club at the time. However, he disliked the early morning travel to West London and the daily assignment to clean the first team's boots. His playing effectiveness at centre-half was hindered by his slight build — but only — and he pushed himself so much that he sometimes vomited at the side of the pitch. After up to two months of play in pre-season fixtures, Stewart left the team, to the great disappointment of his father. Stewart later reflected that: "I had the skill but not the enthusiasm." Regarding possible career options, Stewart concluded, "Well, a musician's life is a lot easier and I can also get drunk and make music, and I can't do that and play football. I plumped for music ... They're the only two things I can do actually: play football and sing."

Music career

1961–63: Early efforts

Stewart worked in the family shop and as a newspaper delivery boy, then as a grave digger at Highgate Cemetery, partly to face a childhood fear of death. He worked in a North Finchley funeral parlour and as a fence erector and sign writer. In 1961 he went to Denmark Street with The Raiders and got a singing audition with well-known record producer Joe Meek, but Meek stopped the session with a rude sound. Stewart began listening to British and American topical folk artists such as Ewan MacColl, Alex Campbell, Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and especially Derroll Adams and the debut album of Bob Dylan. He became attracted to beatnik attitudes and left-wing politics, living for a while in a beatnik houseboat at Shoreham-by-Sea. Stewart was an active supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at this time, joining the annual Aldermaston Marches in 1961 through 1963 and being arrested on three occasions when he took part in sit-ins at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall for the cause. His commitment was not total, however, as he also used the marches as a way to meet and bed girls. In 1962 he had his first serious relationship, with London art student Suzannah Boffey (and a friend of future model and actress Chrissie Shrimpton); he moved to a bed-sit in Muswell Hill to be near her. She became pregnant, but neither Rod nor his family wanted him to enter marriage; the baby girl was given for adoption and Rod's and Suzannah's relationship ended.

In 1962, Stewart began hanging around folk singer Wizz Jones, busking at Leicester Square and other London spots. Stewart took up playing the then-fashionable harmonica. On several trips over the next 18 months Jones and Stewart took their act to Brighton and then to Paris, sleeping under bridges over the River Seine, and then finally to Barcelona. Finally this resulted in Stewart being rounded up and deported from Spain for vagrancy during 1963.

In the spring of 1962, Stewart joined The Ray Davies Quartet, later known as the successful British band The Kinks, as their lead singer. He had known three of their members at William Grimshaw School and at the time, Ray Davies was uncomfortable with the lead vocalist role. He performed with the group on at least one occasion, but was soon dropped due to complaints about his voice from then-drummer John Start's mother as well as musical differences with the band and (as Pete Quaife later recalled) Davies' fear that Stewart would take over.

In 1963, Stewart adopted the Mod lifestyle and look, and began fashioning the spiky rooster hairstyle that would become his trademark. (It originated from large amounts of his sisters' hair lacquer, backcombing, and his hands holding it in place to protect it from the winds of the Highgate Underground station.) Disillusioned by rock and roll, he saw Otis Redding perform in concert and began listening to Sam Cooke records; he became fascinated by rhythm and blues and soul music.

After returning to London, Stewart joined a rhythm and blues group, the Dimensions, in October 1963 as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. It was his first professional job as a musician, although Stewart was still living at home and working in his brother's painting and picture frame shop. A somewhat more established singer from Birmingham, Jimmy Powell, then hired the group a few weeks later, and it became known as Jimmy Powell & the Five Dimensions, with Stewart being relegated to harmonica player. The group performed weekly at the famed Studio 51 club on Great Newport Street in London, where The Rolling Stones often headlined; this was Stewart's entrée into the thriving London R & B scene, and his harmonica playing improved in part from watching Mick Jagger on stage. Relations soon broke down between Powell and Stewart over roles within the group and Stewart departed.

1964–67: Long John Baldry, Steampacket, and "Rod the Mod"

On or around 5 January 1964, Stewart was drunk and waiting on the Twickenham railway station platform, playing "Smokestack Lightnin'" on his harmonica after having seen a rhythm and blues show by Cyril Davies and the All Stars at Eel Pie Island. All Stars singer Long John Baldry discovered him and invited him to sit in with the group (which passed into his hands and was renamed the Hoochie Coochie Men when Davies died of leukaemia on 7 January); when Baldry discovered Stewart was a singer as well, he offered him a job for £35 a week, after securing the approval of Stewart's mother. Quitting his day job at age nineteen, Stewart gradually overcame his shyness and nerves and became a visible enough part of the act that he was sometimes added to the billing as "Rod the Mod" Stewart, the nickname coming from his dandyish style of grooming and dress. Baldry touted Stewart's abilities to ''Melody Maker'' magazine and the group enjoyed a weekly residence at London's fabled Marquee Club. In June 1964, Stewart made his recording début (without label credit) on "Up Above My Head", the B-side to a Baldry and Hoochie Coochie Men single.

While still with Baldry, Stewart embarked on a simultaneous solo career. He made some demo recordings, was scouted by Decca Records at the Marquee Club and signed to a solo contract in August 1964. He appeared on several regional television shows around the country and recorded his first single in September 1964. Turning down Decca's recommended material as too commercial, Stewart insisted that the experienced session musicians he was given, including John Paul Jones, learn a couple of Sonny Boy Williamson songs he had just heard. The resulting single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", was recorded released in October 1964; despite Stewart performing it on the popular television show ''Ready Steady Go!'', it failed to enter the charts. Also in October Stewart left the Hoochie Coochie Men after having a row with Baldry.

Stewart played some dates on his own in late 1964 and early 1965, sometimes backed by the Southampton R & B outfit The Soul Agents. The Hoochie Coochie Men broke up, Baldry and Stewart patched up their differences (and indeed became lifelong friends), and legendary impresario Giorgio Gomelsky put together Steampacket, which featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Micky Waller, Vic Briggs, and Rick Brown; their first appearance was in support of The Rolling Stones in July 1965. The group was conceived as a white soul revue, analogous to The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, with multiple vocalists and styles ranging from jazz to R & B to blues. Steampacket toured with the Stones and The Walker Brothers that summer, ending in the London Palladium; seeing the audience react to the Stones gave Stewart his first exposure to crowd hysteria. Stewart, who had been included in the group upon Baldry's insistence, ended up with most of the male vocal parts. Steampacket was unable to enter the studio to record any material due to its members all belonging to different labels and managers, although Gomelsky did record one of their Marquee Club rehearsals.

Stewart's "Rod the Mod" image gained wider visibility in November 1965, when he was the subject of a 30-minute Rediffusion, London television documentary titled "An Easter with Rod" that portrayed the Mod scene. His parallel solo career attempts continued on EMI's Columbia label with the November 1965 release of "The Day Will Come", a more heavily arranged pop attempt, and the April 1966 release of his take on Sam Cooke's "Shake", with the Brian Auger Trinity. Both failed commercially and neither gained positive notices. Stewart had spent the better part of two years listening mostly to Cooke; he later said, "I didn't sound like anybody at all ... but I knew I sounded a bit like Sam Cooke, so I listened to Sam Cooke." This recording solidified that singer's position as Stewart's idol and most enduring influence; he called it a "crossing of the water."

Stewart departed from Steampacket in March 1966, with Stewart saying he had been sacked and Auger saying he had quit. Stewart then joined a somewhat similar outfit, Shotgun Express, in May 1966 as co-lead vocalist with Beryl Marsden. Amongst the other members were Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green (who would go on to form Fleetwood Mac), and Peter Bardens. Shotgun Express released one unsuccessful single in October 1966, the orchestra-heavy "I Could Feel The Whole World Turn Round", before disbanding. Stewart later disparaged Shotgun Express as a poor imitation of Steampacket, and said "I was still getting this terrible feeling of doing other people's music. I think you can only start finding yourself when you write your own material." By now, Stewart had bounced around without achieving much success, with little to distinguish himself among other aspiring London singers other than the emerging rasp in his voice.

1967–69: Jeff Beck Group

Guitarist Jeff Beck recruited Stewart for his new post-Yardbirds venture, and in February 1967, Stewart joined the Jeff Beck Group as vocalist and sometime songwriter. This would become the big break of his early career. There he first played with Ronnie Wood whom he had first met in a London pub in 1964; the two soon became fast friends. During its first year, the group experienced frequent changes of drummers and conflicts involving manager Mickie Most wanting to reduce Stewart's role; they toured the UK, and released a couple of singles that featured Stewart on their B-sides. Stewart's sputtering solo career also continued, with the March 1968 release of non-hit "Little Miss Understood" on Immediate Records. The Jeff Beck Group toured Western Europe in spring 1968, recorded, and were nearly destitute; then assistant manager Peter Grant booked them on a six-week tour of the United States starting in June 1968 with the Fillmore East in New York. The first-time-in-America Stewart suffered terrible stage fright during the opening show and hid behind the amplifier banks while singing; only a quick shot of brandy brought him out front. Nevertheless, the show and the tour were a big success, with Robert Shelton of ''The New York Times'' calling the group exciting and praising "the interaction of Mr. Beck's wild and visionary guitar against the hoarse and insistent shouting of Rod Stewart," and ''New Musical Express'' reporting that the group was receiving standing ovations and pulling receipts equal to those of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.

In August 1968, their first album ''Truth'' was released; by October it had risen to number 15 on the US albums chart but failed to chart in the UK. The radical, groundbreaking, landmark album featured Beck's masterly guitar technique and manipulated sounds as Stewart's dramatic vocalising tackled the group's varied repertoire of blues, folk, rock, and proto-heavy metal. Stewart also co-wrote three of the songs, and credited the record for helping to develop his vocal abilities and the sandpaper quality in his voice. The group toured America again at the end of the year to a very strong reception, then suffered from more personnel upheaval (something that would continue throughout Beck's career). In July 1969, Stewart left, following his friend Wood's departure. Stewart later recalled: "It was a great band to sing with but I couldn't take all the aggravation and unfriendliness that developed.... In the two and a half years I was with Beck I never once looked him in the eye – I always looked at his shirt or something like that." The group's second album, ''Beck-Ola'', was released in June 1969 in the US and September 1969 in the UK, bracketing the time the group was dissolving; it also made number 15 in the US albums chart and placed to number 39 in the UK albums chart. During his time with the group, Stewart initially felt overmatched by Beck's presence, and his style was still developing; but later Stewart felt the two developed a strong musical, if not personal, rapport. Much of Stewart's sense of phrasing was developed during his time with the Jeff Beck Group. Beck sought to form a new supergroup with Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert (of the similarly just-breaking-up Vanilla Fudge) joining him and Stewart, but Stewart had other plans.

1969–71: Solo Career establishment

Mercury Records A&R; man Lou Reizner had seen Stewart perform with Beck, and in October 1968 signed him to a solo contract; but contractual complexities delayed Stewart's recording for him until July 1969. Meanwhile, in May 1969, guitarist and singer Steve Marriott left English band The Small Faces. Ron Wood was announced as the replacement guitarist in June and in October 1969 Stewart followed his friend and was announced as their new singer. The two joined existing members Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones, who soon decided to call the new line-up Faces.

''An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down'' became Stewart's first solo album in 1969 (it was known as ''The Rod Stewart Album'' in the US). It established the template for his solo sound: a heartfelt mixture of folk, rock, and country blues, inclusive of a British working-class sensibility, with both original material ("Cindy's Lament" and the title song) and cover versions (Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" and Mike d'Abo's "Handbags and Gladrags").

Faces released their debut album ''First Step'' in early 1970 with a rock and roll style similar to the Rolling Stones. While the album did better in the UK than in the US, the Faces quickly earned a strong live following. Stewart released his second album, ''Gasoline Alley'' that autumn (Elkie Brooks later achieved a hit with a version of the title track in 1983). Rod's approach was similar to his first album, as exemplified by the title track; and mandolin was introduced into the sound. He then launched a solo tour. Stewart sang guest vocals for the Australian group Python Lee Jackson on "In a Broken Dream", recorded in April 1969 but not released until 1970. His payment was a set of seat covers for his car. It was re-released in 1972 to become a worldwide hit.

1971-74: ''Every Picture Tells a Story''

Stewart's 1971 solo album ''Every Picture Tells a Story'' made him a household name when the B-side of his minor hit "Reason to Believe", "Maggie May", started receiving radio play. The album and the single hit number one in both the US and the UK simultaneously, a chart first, in September. A loss of innocence tale set off by a striking mandolin part (by Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne), "Maggie May" was also named in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's ''500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll'', which is one of three songs by him to appear on that list. The rest of the album was equally strong, with "Mandolin Wind" again showcasing that instrument; "(I Know) I'm Losing You" adding hard-edged soul to the mix; and "Tomorrow Is a Long Time", a cover of a Bob Dylan song. But the ultimate manifestation of the early Stewart solo style was the Stewart-Wood-penned "Every Picture Tells a Story" itself: powered by Mick Waller's drumming, Pete Sears's piano, and Wood's guitar work in a largely acoustic arrangement; it is a fast, rocking, headlong romp relating the picaresque adventures of the singer.

The second Faces album, ''Long Player'', was released in early 1971 and enjoyed greater chart success than ''First Step''. The Faces also got their only US Top 40 hit with "Stay With Me" from their third album ''A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse'' released in late 1971. This album reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic on the back of the success of ''Every Picture Tells A Story''. Throughout this period there was a marked dichotomy between Stewart's solo and group work, the former being meticulously crafted while the latter tended towards the boozy and sloppy. Steve Jones from The Sex Pistols regarded The Faces very highly and named them as a main influence on the British punk rock movement.

The Faces toured extensively in 1972 with growing tension in the band over Stewart's solo career enjoying more success than the band's. Stewart released ''Never a Dull Moment'' in the same year. Repeating the ''Every Picture'' formula for the most part, it reached number two on the US album charts and number one in the UK, and enjoyed further good notices from reviewers. "You Wear It Well" was a hit single that reached number 13 in the US and went to number one in the UK, while "Twisting the Night Away" made explicit Stewart's debt to Sam Cooke. For the body of his early solo work Stewart earned tremendous critical praise. ''Rolling Stone'''s 1980 ''Illustrated History of Rock & Roll'' includes this in its Stewart entry:

Rarely has a singer had as full and unique a talent as Rod Stewart; rarely has anyone betrayed his talent so completely. Once the most compassionate presence in music, he has become a bilious self-parody — and sells more records than ever [...] a writer who offered profound lyricism and fabulous self-deprecating humour, teller of tall tales and honest heartbreaker, he had an unmatched eye for the tiny details around which lives turn, shatter, and reform [...] and a voice to make those details indelible. [... His solo albums] were defined by two special qualities: warmth, which was redemptive, and modesty, which was liberating. If ever any rocker chose the role of everyman and lived up to it, it was Rod Stewart.

The Faces released their final album ''Ooh La La,'' which reached number one in the UK and number 21 in the US in 1973. The band toured Australasia, Japan, Europe and the UK in 1974 to support the album and the single "Pool Hall Richard".

1974-75: ''Smiler'' and Faces tour

In late 1974 Stewart released his ''Smiler'' album. In Britain, it reached number one, and the single "Farewell" number seven, but only number 13 on the ''Billboard'' pop album charts and the single "Mine for Me" only number 91 on the ''Billboard'' pop singles charts. It was his last original album for Mercury Records. After the release of the double album compilation ''The Best of Rod Stewart'' he switched to Warner Bros. Records and remained with them throughout the vast majority of his career.

In 1975 the Faces toured the US twice (with Ronnie Wood joining The Rolling Stones' US tour in between) before Stewart announced the Faces' break-up at the end of the year.

1975–77: ''Atlantic Crossing'' and further releases

In 1975, Rod Stewart moved to the US, applying for citizenship due to his love affair with Britt Ekland and a protest against the UK tax authorities, who were taking approximately 84% of his income. He released the ''Atlantic Crossing'' album for his new record company, using producer Tom Dowd and a different sound based on the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. ''Atlantic Crossing'' marked both a return to form and a return to the Top 10 of the ''Billboard'' album charts. The first single, a cover of the Sutherland Brothers song "Sailing", was a number one hit in the UK, but it only reached the Top 60 of the US charts. The single returned to the UK Top 10 a year later when used as the theme music for a BBC documentary series about ''HMS Ark Royal'', and having been a hit twice over became, and remains, Stewart's biggest-selling single in the UK. His Holland-Dozier-Holland cover "This Old Heart Of Mine" was also a Top 100 hit in 1976. Additionally in 1976 Stewart covered The Beatles' song "Get Back" for the ephemeral musical documentary ''All This and World War II''.

Later in 1976, Stewart topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for eight weeks and the Australian ARIA chart with the ballad "Tonight's the Night", with an accompanying music video featuring Ekland. It came from the ''A Night on the Town'' album, which went to number two on the ''Billboard'' album charts and was Stewart's first album to go platinum. By explicitly marking the album as having a "fast side" and a "slow side", Stewart continued the trend started by ''Atlantic Crossing''. "The First Cut Is the Deepest", a cover of a Cat Stevens song, went number one in the UK in 1977, and top 30 in the US. "The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 and 2)", about the murder of a gay man, was also a Top 40 hit for Stewart during 1977.

1977-81: ''Blondes Have More Fun''

''Foot Loose & Fancy Free'' featured Rod's own band, the original Rod Stewart Group that featured Carmine Appice, Phil Chen, Jim Cregan, Billy Peek, Gary Grainger and John Jarvis, from 1977 continued Stewart's run of chart success, again reaching number two. "You're In My Heart" was the hit single, reaching number four in the US. The rocker "Hot Legs" achieved a lot of radio airplay as did the confessional "I Was Only Joking". In appearance, Stewart's look had evolved to include a glam element, including make-up and spandex clothes. Stewart scored another UK number one and US number one single with "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was a crossover hit reaching number five on the ''Billboard'' black charts due to its disco sound. This was the lead single from 1978's ''Blondes Have More Fun...or do they?,'' which went to number one on the ''Billboard'' album charts and sold 4 million albums. It was to be Stewart's last number one album for 25 years.

A focal point of criticisms about this period was his biggest-selling 1978 disco hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was atypical of his earlier output, and disparaged by critics. In interviews, Stewart, while admitting his accompanying look had become "tarty", has defended the lyrics by pointing out that the song is a third-person narrative slice-of-life portrayal, not unlike those in his earlier work, and that it is not about him. However, the song's refrain was identical to Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor's earlier "Taj Mahal" and a lawsuit ensued. Stewart donated his royalties from the song to UNICEF, and he performed it with his band at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in 1979.

Rod moved a bit to a more New Wave direction in 1980 by releasing the album ''Foolish Behaviour''. The album produced one hit single "Passion"; that proved particularly popular in South Africa (reaching no. 1 on the Springbok Top 20 Charts and Radio 5 Charts in early 1981). It also reached No. 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Charts. Later in 1981, Stewart added further elements of New Wave and synth pop to his sound for the ''Tonight I'm Yours'' album. The title song reached #20 in the U.S., while "Young Turks" reached the Top 5 with the album going platinum. In August 1981, MTV was launched in the US with several of Stewart's videos in heavy rotation. On 18 December 1981, Stewart played the Los Angeles Forum, along with Kim Carnes and Tina Turner. This show was broadcast around the world to a television audience of 35 million.

1982–2001: ''Body Wishes'', and continued success

Stewart's career then went into a relative slump, and his albums between ''Tonight I'm Yours'' (1981) and ''Out of Order'' (1988) received harsh criticism from many critics. He was also criticised for breaking the widely observed cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa by performing at the Sun City resort complex in the bantustan of Bophuthatswana as part of his Body Wishes (1983) and Camouflage (1984) tours. He only had four Top 10 singles between 1982 and 1988, "Young Turks" (#5,1982), "Some Guys Have All the Luck" (#10, 1984), "Infatuation" (#6, 1984) and "Love Touch" (#6, 1986), although "Baby Jane" became his sixth and final UK number one in 1983. It reached #14 in the US. The corresponding ''Camouflage'' album went gold in the UK, and the single "Infatuation" (which featured his old friend Jeff Beck on the guitar) received considerable play on MTV. The second single "Some Guys Have All The Luck" reached #15 in the UK and #10 in the US. A reunion with Jeff Beck produced a successful take on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready", but an attempt to tour together fell apart after a few dates. He reached UK number two in 1986 with "Every Beat Of My Heart".

In January 1985, he performed at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro before an estimated audience of over 100,000. In 1988, he returned with ''Out Of Order'', produced by Duran Duran's Andy Taylor and by Bernard Edwards of Chic. "Lost in You", "Forever Young", "Crazy About Her", and "My Heart Can't Tell You No" from that album were all top 15 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and mainstream rock charts, with the latter even reaching the Top Five. "Forever Young" was an unconscious revision of Bob Dylan's song of the same name; the artists reached an agreement about sharing royalties. The song reached #12 in the U.S.

In January 1989, Stewart set out on the South American leg of the Out of Order Tour playing to sell-out audiences throughout Americas. There were 80,000 people at his show at Corregidora Stadium, Querétaro, México (9 April), and 50,000 at Jalisco Stadium, Guadalajara, Jalisco (12 April). In Buenos Aires, the audience at the River Plate Stadium, which seats 70,000+, was at over 90,000, with several thousand outside the stadium. Firehoses were sprayed on the crowd to avoid heat prostration.

Stewart's version of the Tom Waits song "Downtown Train" went to number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1990. This song was taken from a four-CD compilation set called ''Storyteller - The Complete Anthology: 1964–1990''. The ''Vagabond Heart'' album continued his comeback with "Rhythm of My Heart" reaching #5 on ''Billboard'', and "The Motown Song" reaching the top 10. Also in 1990 he recorded "It Takes Two" with Tina Turner, which reached number five on the UK charts. In 1991 Stewart contributed guest lead vocals to the song "My Town" by the Canadian band Glass Tiger.

In 1993, he recorded "All For Love" with Sting and Bryan Adams for the soundtrack to the movie ''The Three Musketeers''; the single reached number one on the US charts. Also in 1993, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood to record an ''MTV Unplugged'' special that included "Handbags and Gladrags", "Cut Across Shorty", and four selections from ''Every Picture Tells A Story''. The show also featured an acoustic version of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately", which topped the ''Billboard'' adult contemporary chart and #5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A rendition of "Reason to Believe" also garnered considerable airplay. The resulting ''Unplugged...and Seated'' album reached number two on the Billboard 200 album charts.

Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, presented by Jeff Beck. On 31 December on the same year he played in front on 4.2 million people on Copacabana beach in Rio, and made it into the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' for staging the largest outdoor concert in history.

By the early 1990s, Stewart had mostly abandoned creating his own material, saying that he was not a natural songwriter and that the tepid response to his recent efforts was not rewarding. In 1995, Stewart released ''A Spanner in the Works'' containing a single written by Tom Petty "Leave Virginia Alone," which reached the Top 10 of the adult contemporary charts. The latter half of the 1990s was not so commercially successful, though the 1996 album ''If We Fall in Love Tonight'' managed to ship gold and hit #19 on the Billboard album chart, thanks in large part to an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.

''When We Were the New Boys'', his final album on the Warner Bros. label released in 1998, contained versions of songs by Britpop acts such as Oasis and Primal Scream, and reached number two on the UK album charts. In 2000, Stewart decided to leave Warner Bros. and moved to Atlantic Records, another division of Warner Music Group. In 2001, he released ''Human'', his only album for Atlantic. ''Human'' only just reached the Top 50 in 2001 with the single "I Can't Deny It" going Top 40 in the UK and Top 20 in the adult contemporary.

Stewart then signed to Clive Davis' new J Records label. ''The Story So Far: The Very Best Of Rod Stewart'', a greatest hits album compiled from his time at Warner Bros., went to the Top 10 in the UK and reached number one in places like Belgium and France in 2001.

2002–09: ''The Great American Songbook'' releases

By 2002, Stewart had sold over 100 million records during his career. Stewart then concentrated on singing 1930s and 1940s pop standards from the "Great American Songbook", written by songwriters such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin, with great popular success. These albums have been released on Clive Davis's J Records label and have seen Stewart enjoy album sales equal to the 1970s.

The first album from the songbook series, ''It Had to Be You: the Great American Songbook'', reached number four on the US album chart, number eight in the UK and number ten in Canada when released in late 2002. The track "These Foolish Things" (which is actually a British, not American, song) reached number 13 on the Billboard adult contemporary charts and number two in Taiwan. "They Can't Take That Away From Me" went Top 20 on the world Internet charts and Top 30 on the adult contemporary charts.

The second series album, ''As Time Goes By: the Great American Songbook 2'', reached number two in the US, number four in the UK and number one in Canada. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", a duet with Cher, went Top 20 on the US adult contemporary charts and Top 5 in Taiwan. "Time After Time" was another Top 30 track on the US adult contemporary charts. A musical called ''Tonight's The Night'', featuring many of Stewart's songs opened, 7 November 2003 at London's Victoria Palace Theatre. It is written and directed by Ben Elton, who previously created a similar production; ''We Will Rock You'', with music by Queen.

In 2004, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood for concerts of Faces material. A Rod Stewart and the Faces best of ''Changing Faces'' reached the Top 20 of the UK album charts. ''Five Guys Walk into a Bar...'', a Faces box set compilation, went into the shops. Stewart has also mentioned working with Wood on an album to be entitled ''You Strum, I'll Sing''. In late 2004, ''Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3'', the third album in Stewart's songbook series, was released. It was his first US number one album in 25 years, selling over 200,000 albums in its first week. It also debuted at number one in Canada, number three in the UK and Top 10 in Australia. His version of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", featuring Stevie Wonder, made the Top 20 of the world adult charts. He also recorded a duet with Dolly Parton for the album - "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Stewart won his first ever Grammy Award for this album.

The year 2005 saw the release of the fourth songbook album, ''Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook 4''; it included duets with Diana Ross and Elton John. Within weeks of its release, the CD made it to number two on the Top 200 list. In late 2006, Stewart made his return to rock music and his new approach to country music with the release of ''Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time'', a new album featuring rock and southern rock milestones from the last four decades, including a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?", which was released as the first single. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts with 184,000 copies in its first week. The number one debut was helped by a concert in New York City that was on MSN Music and an appearance on ''Dancing with the Stars''. He performed tracks from his new album Live from the Nokia Theater on 9 October. Control Room broadcast the event Live on MSN and in 117 movie theatres across the country via National CineMedia.

On 12 December, he performed for the first time at The Royal Variety Performance at The London Coliseum in front of HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, singing another Cat Stevens number, "Father and Son", and Glasgow singer/songwriter Frankie Miller's song It's a Heartache, made famous by Bonnie Tyler. On 22 December 2006 Stewart hosted the 8th Annual ''A Home for the Holidays'' special on CBS at 8:00 pm (PST). In 2007, Rod's son Sean starred in the A&E; television show ''Sons of Hollywood'', in which Rod's role as a parent is a major theme. Rod Stewart performed "Sailing" and "Baby Jane" plus "Maggie May" at the memorial concert for Princess Diana in the same year.

On 11 June 2008, Stewart announced that the Faces are discussing a reunion for at least one or two concerts.

2009-present: ''Songbook''

On 20 May 2009, Stewart performed "Maggie May" on the grand finale of ''American Idol'' season 8. On 2 July 2009 Stewart performed his only UK date this year at Home Park, Plymouth. On 29 September 2009 a 4-CD, 65-track compilation entitled ''Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998'' was released; it is composed of previously-unreleased tracks and outtakes from the bulk of his career. Stewart has also mentioned plans for a compilation of covers of soul classics, the possible release of another edition of the ''Great American Songbook'' album and a country covers album.

On 14 November 2009, Stewart recorded a TV program in the UK for ITV that was screened on 5 December 2009. The music in the programme featured tracks from his new album and some old favourites. On 14 Jan 2010, Rhino records released Stewart's "Once in a Blue Moon" a "lost album" originally recorded in 1992, featuring ten cover songs including the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday", Dylan's "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" and Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back", as well as Tom Waits' "Tom Traubert's Blues." On 19 October 2010, Stewart released another edition of his Great American Songbook series titled "Fly Me to the Moon...The Great American Songbook Volume V" on J Records.

Stewart performed with Stevie Nicks on The Heart & Soul Tour. Starting 20 March 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the tour visits arena concerts in North America – with performances in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa and Montreal confirmed.

Stewart headlined the Sunday show at the 2011 Hard Rock Calling Festival on 26 June at London's Hyde Park. Stewart signed on to a two year residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, commencing on 24 August. Performing his greatest hits, the residency also sees him perform selected tracks from his upcoming, untitled blues album.

Personal life

In May 2000, Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery in the same month. It had been previously reported he suffered from a benign vocal cord nodule. Besides being a major health scare, the resulting surgery also threatened his famous voice, and he had to re-learn how to sing. Since then he has been active in raising funds for The City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting children.

Stewart plays for his LA Exiles team made up of mostly English expatriates plus a few celebrities, including Billy Duffy of The Cult, in a senior soccer league in Palos Verdes, California He still kicks footballs into the audience during concerts. He is a well-known supporter of Celtic F.C., which he mentions in his hit "You're in My Heart", and the Scotland national team. Stewart also follows Manchester United as his English side, and he explains his love affair with both Celtic and Man United in Frank Worall's book ''Celtic United''.

Stewart is a keen model railway enthusiast. His 23 x 124-foot HO scale layout in his Los Angeles home is modelled after the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads during the 1940s. Called the Three Rivers City, the layout was featured in the cover story of the December 2007 and December 2010 issues of ''Model Railroader'' Magazine. In the 2007 article Stewart said that he would rather be in a model railroad magazine than a music magazine. His passion for the hobby has been cited as contributing to the end of his second marriage. He has a second layout at his UK home. That layout is based on Britain's East Coast Main Line. Stewart's home is located in Epping, Essex on part of the Copped Hall estate

A keen car enthusiast, Stewart owns one of the 400 Ferrari Enzos. In 1982, Stewart was car-jacked on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard, while he was parking his $50,000 Porsche. The car was subsequently recovered.

On 11 October 2005, Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. (Star number 2093) On 18 April and 19 April 2006 Stewart was the guest artist and celebrity vocal coach on ''American Idol'', leading the remaining seven finalists in singing entries from the Great American Songbook.

Stewart was estimated to have a fortune of £115 million in the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of 2011, making him one of the 20 richest people in the British music industry.

Relationships and family

Stewart is known for his liaisons with women (fathering eight children with five of them): ModelDee Harrington ActressBritt Ekland rowspan="2" ModelKelly Emberg rowspan="2" rowspan="2"

Length
1963–1964	Art studentSusannah Boffey	Sarah Streeter (born 1963)
1971–1975	|
1975–1977	|
rowspan="2">First marriage1979-1984	Alana Hamilton<	(ex-wife of actor George Hamilton) ||	Kimberly Stewart (born 21 August 1979)	Kimberly gave birth to her first child with oscar-winning actor Benicio Del Toro, making Rod Stewart a grandfather.
Sean Stewart (reality TV star)	Sean Stewart (born 1 September 1980)
1983–1990	|	Ruby Stewart (born 17 June 1987)
rowspan="2">Second marriage1990-2006	ModelRachel Hunter ||	Renée Stewart (born 1 June 1992)	They separated in 1999 and eventually divorced in 2006.
Liam McAlister Stewart (born 4 September 1994)
	ModelPenny Lancaster-Stewart ||	Alastair Wallace Stewart (born 27 November 2005 in London)	The couple married on 16 June 2007 on board the yacht ''Lady Ann Magee'' moored in the Italian port of Portofino.
Aiden Stewart (born 16 February 2011)

In reference to his divorces, Rod Stewart was once quoted as saying, "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."

Awards and recognition

Awarded CBE in 2007 New Year's Honours.

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 2005, ''Stardust ... The Great American Songbook Volume III''

''Diamond Award'' of World Music Awards show for over 100 million records sold worldwide, 2001.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994

Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, 2006

According to Stewart, soul singer James Brown called him music's "best white soul singer" in September 2006.

List of bands

During his career, Rod Stewart has been a member of a number of groups including:

Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions (1963)

The Hoochie Coochie Men (1964–1965)

Soul Agents (1965–1966)

Shotgun Express (1966)

The Jeff Beck Group (1966–1969)

Faces (1969–1975)

Discography

Stewart's album and single sales total have been variously estimated as more than 100 million, or at 200 million, in either case earning him a place on the list of best-selling music artists.

UK/US number one albums

1971 ''Every Picture Tells a Story'' (UK / US)

1972 ''Never a Dull Moment'' (UK )

1973 ''Sing It Again Rod'' (UK )

1974 ''Smiler'' (UK )

1975 ''Atlantic Crossing'' (UK )

1976 ''A Night on the Town'' (UK )

1978 ''Blondes Have More Fun'' (US )

1979 ''Greatest Hits, Vol. 1'' (UK )

2004 ''Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3'' (US )

2006 ''Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time'' (US )

UK/US number one singles

1971 "Maggie May" / "Reason to Believe" (UK/US)

1972 "You Wear It Well" (UK)

1975 "Sailing" (UK)

1976 "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" (US)

1977 "I Don't Want to Talk About It" / "The First Cut Is the Deepest" (UK)

1978 "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (UK, US)

1983 "Baby Jane" (UK)

1993 "All for Love" (US) (featuring Bryan Adams and Sting, first appearing on the official soundtrack from the movie "The Three Musketeers")

See also

Best selling music artists

List of number-one hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (US)

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

Coronet Apartments

Crooner

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

BBC Derby profile

Five audio interview clips from 1981

''Q'' magazine's "100 Greatest Singers" list

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Anglo-Scots Category:BRIT Award winners Category:British blues singers Category:British buskers Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians Category:Cancer survivors Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:English male singers Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:English pop singers Category:English rock singers Category:English songwriters Category:English tenors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from London Category:People from Epping Category:People from Highgate Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees‎ Category:Scottish tenors Category:Singers from London Category:World Music Awards winners

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right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in Strelna, 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg. Luciano Pavarotti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (12 October 1935 6 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor, who also crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most commercially successful tenors of all time. He made numerous recordings of complete operas and individual arias, and established himself as one of the finest tenors of the 20th century. He was one of ''"The Three Tenors"'' and became well known for his televised concerts and media appearances. Pavarotti was also noted for his charity work on behalf of refugees and the Red Cross, amongst others.

Pavarotti began his professional career as a tenor in 1961 in Italy. That same year, he made his first international appearance in ''La traviata'' in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He sang in opera houses in addition to Italy, in the Netherlands, Vienna, London, Ankara, Budapest and Barcelona. The young tenor earned valuable experience and recognition while touring Australia at the invitation of soprano Joan Sutherland in 1965. He made his United States debut in Miami soon afterwards, also on Sutherland's recommendation. His position as a leading lyric tenor was consolidated in the years between 1966 and 1972, during which time he first appeared at Milan's La Scala and other major European houses. In 1968, he debuted at New York City's Metropolitan Opera as Rudolfo in Puccini's ''La bohème''. At the Met in 1972, in the role of Tonio in Donizetti's ''La fille du régiment'' he earned the title "King of the high Cs" when he sang the aria "Ah mes amis ... pour mon âme". He gained worldwide fame for the brilliance and beauty of his tone, especially into the upper register. He was at his best in bel canto operas, pre-''Aida'' Verdi roles and Puccini works such as ''La bohème'', ''Tosca'' and ''Madama Butterfly''. The late 1970s and 1980s saw Pavarotti continue to make significant appearances in the world's foremost opera houses.

Celebrity beyond the world of opera came to Pavarotti at the 1990 World Cup in Italy with performances of Puccini's "Nessun dorma", from ''Turandot'', and as one of "The Three Tenors" in their famed first concert held on the eve of the tournament's final match. He sang on that occasion with fellow star tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras, bringing opera highlights to a wider audience. Appearances in advertisements and with pop icons in concerts furthered his international celebrity.

His final performance in an opera was at the Metropolitan Opera in March 2004. Later that year, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) inducted him into its Italian American Hall of Fame in recognition of his lifetime of work. During a ceremony held at the Foundation's Anniversary Gala just four days after his 69th birthday, singer Faith Hill presented Pavarotti with a birthday cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to the opera legend.

The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, saw Pavarotti on stage for the last time, where he performed "Nessun dorma", with the crowd serving as the aria's chorus, and he received a thunderous standing ovation.

He died from pancreatic cancer on 6 September 2007.

Earlier life and musical training

Luciano Pavarotti was born in 1935 on the outskirts of Modena in Northern Italy, the son of Fernando Pavarotti, a baker and amateur tenor, and Adele Venturi, a cigar factory worker. Although he spoke fondly of his childhood, the family had little money; its four members were crowded into a two-room apartment. According to Pavarotti, his father had a fine tenor voice but rejected the possibility of a singing career because of nervousness. World War II forced the family out of the city in 1943. For the following year they rented a single room from a farmer in the neighbouring countryside, where the young Pavarotti developed an interest in farming.

After abandoning the dream of becoming a football goalkeeper, Pavarotti spent seven years in vocal training. Pavarotti's earliest musical influences were his father's recordings, most of them featuring the popular tenors of the day - Beniamino Gigli, Giovanni Martinelli, Tito Schipa and Enrico Caruso. Pavarotti's favourite tenor and idol was Giuseppe Di Stefano. He was also deeply influenced by Mario Lanza, saying, ''"In my teens I used to go to Mario Lanza movies and then come home and imitate him in the mirror"''. At around the age of nine he began singing with his father in a small local church choir.

After what appears to have been a normal childhood with a typical interest in sports — in Pavarotti's case football above all, he graduated from the Scuola Magistrale and faced the dilemma of a career choice. He was interested in pursuing a career as a professional football goalkeeper, but his mother convinced him to train as a teacher. He subsequently taught in an elementary school for two years but finally allowed his interest in music to win out. Recognising the risk involved, his father gave his consent only reluctantly.

Pavarotti began the serious study of music in 1954 at the age of 19 with Arrigo Pola, a respected teacher and professional tenor in Modena who offered to teach him without remuneration. Not until he began these studies was Pavarotti aware that he had perfect pitch.

In 1955, he experienced his first singing success when he was a member of the Corale Rossini, a male voice choir from Modena that also included his father, which won first prize at the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales. He later said that this was the most important experience of his life, and that it inspired him to become a professional singer. At about this time Pavarotti first met Adua Veroni. They married in 1961.

When his teacher Arrigo Pola moved to Japan, Pavarotti became a student of Ettore Campogalliani, who at that time was also teaching Pavarotti's childhood friend, Mirella Freni, whose mother worked with Luciano's mother in the cigar factory. Like Pavarotti, Freni was destined to operatic greatness; they were to share the stage many times and make memorable recordings together.

During his years of musical study, Pavarotti held part time jobs in order to sustain himself - first as an elementary school teacher and then as an insurance salesman. The first six years of study resulted in only a few recitals, all in small towns and without pay. When a nodule developed on his vocal cords, causing a ''"disastrous"'' concert in Ferrara, he decided to give up singing. Pavarotti attributed his immediate improvement to the psychological release connected with this decision. Whatever the reason, the nodule not only disappeared but, as he related in his autobiography, ''"Everything I had learned came together with my natural voice to make the sound I had been struggling so hard to achieve"''.

Career

1960s–1970s

Pavarotti began his career as a tenor in smaller regional Italian opera houses, making his debut as Rodolfo in ''La Bohème'' at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio Emilia in April 1961.

Very early in his career, on 23 February 1963, he debuted at the Vienna State Opera with the same role. In March and April 1963 Vienna saw Pavarotti again as Rodolfo and as Duca di Mantova in ''Rigoletto''. The same year saw his Royal Opera House debut, where he replaced an indisposed Giuseppe di Stefano as Rodolfo.

While generally successful, Pavarotti's early roles did not immediately propel him into the stardom that he would later enjoy. An early coup involved his connection with Joan Sutherland (and her conductor husband, Richard Bonynge), who in 1963 had sought a young tenor taller than herself to take along on her tour to Australia. With his commanding physical presence, Pavarotti proved ideal. The two sang some forty performances over two months, and Pavarotti later credited Sutherland for the breathing technique that would sustain him over his career.

Pavarotti made his American début with the Greater Miami Opera in February 1965, singing in Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' opposite Joan Sutherland on the stage of the Miami-Dade County Auditorium in Miami. The tenor scheduled to perform that night became ill with no understudy. As Sutherland was traveling with him on tour, she recommended the young Pavarotti as he was well acquainted with the role.

Shortly after, on 28 April, Pavarotti made his La Scala debut in the revival of the famous Franco Zeffirelli production of ''La Bohème,'' with his childhood friend Mirella Freni singing Mimi and Herbert von Karajan conducting. Karajan had requested the singer's engagement. After an extended Australian tour, he returned to La Scala, where he added Tebaldo from ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' to his repertoire on 26 March 1966, with Giacomo Aragall as Romeo. His first appearance as Tonio in Donizetti's ''La Fille du Régiment'' took place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 2 June of that year. It was his performances of this role that would earn him the title of "King of the High Cs".

He scored another major triumph in Rome on 20 November 1969 when he sang in ''I Lombardi'' opposite Renata Scotto. This was recorded on a private label and widely distributed, as were various recordings of his ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi,'' usually with Aragall. Early commercial recordings included a recital of Donizetti (the aria from ''Don Sebastiano'' was particularly highly regarded) and Verdi arias, as well as a complete ''L'Elisir d'Amore'' with Sutherland.

His major breakthrough in the United States came on 17 February 1972, in a production of ''La Fille du Régiment'' at New York's Metropolitan Opera, in which he drove the crowd into a frenzy with his nine effortless high Cs in the signature aria. He achieved a record seventeen curtain calls.

Pavarotti sang his international recital début at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, on 1 February 1973, as part of the college's Fine Arts Program, now known as the Harriman-Jewell Series. Perspiring due to nerves and a lingering cold, the tenor clutched a handkerchief throughout the début. The prop became a signature part of his solo performances.

He began to give frequent television performances, starting with his performances as Rodolfo (''La Bohème'') in the first Live from the Met telecast in March 1977, which attracted one of the largest audiences ever for a televised opera. He won many Grammy awards and platinum and gold discs for his performances. In addition to the previously listed titles, his ''La Favorita'' with Fiorenza Cossotto and his ''I Puritani'' (1975) with Sutherland stand out.

In 1976, Pavarotti debuted at the Salzburg Festival, appearing in a solo recital on 31 July, accompanied by pianist Leone Magiera. Pavarotti returned to the festival in 1978 with a recital and as the Italian singer in ''Der Rosenkavalier,'' in 1983 with ''Idomeneo,'' and both in 1985 and 1988 with solo recitals.

In 1979, he was profiled in a cover story in the weekly magazine ''Time''. That same year saw Pavarotti's return to the Vienna State Opera after an absence of fourteen years. With Herbert von Karajan conducting, Pavarotti sang Manrico in ''Il Trovatore.'' In 1978, he appeared in a solo recital on ''Live from Lincoln Center.''

1980s–1990s

At the beginning of the 1980s, he set up The Pavarotti International Voice Competition for young singers, performing with the winners in 1982 in excerpts of ''La Bohème'' and ''L'Elisir d'Amore''. The second competition, in 1986, staged excerpts of ''La Bohème'' and ''Un Ballo in Maschera''. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his career, he brought the winners of the competition to Italy for gala performances of ''La Bohème'' in Modena and Genoa, and then to China where they staged performances of ''La Bohème'' in Beijing (Peking). To conclude the visit, Pavarotti performed the first ever concert in the Great Hall of the People before 10,000 people, receiving a standing ovation for nine effortless high Cs. The third competition in 1989 again staged performances of ''L'Elisir d'Amore'' and ''Un ballo in Maschera''. The winners of the fifth competition accompanied Pavarotti in performances in Philadelphia in 1997.

In the mid-1980s, Pavarotti returned to two opera houses that had provided him with important breakthroughs, the Vienna State Opera and La Scala. Vienna saw Pavarotti as Rodolfo in ''La Bohème'' with Carlos Kleiber conducting and again Mirella Freni was Mimi; as Nemorino in ''L'Elisir d'Amore''; as Radames in ''Aïda'' conducted by Lorin Maazel; as Rodolfo in ''Luisa Miller''; and as Gustavo in ''Un Ballo in Maschera'' conducted by Claudio Abbado. In 1996, Pavarotti appeared for the last time at the Staatsoper in ''Andrea Chenier''.

In 1985, Pavarotti sang Radames at La Scala opposite Maria Chiara in a Luca Ronconi production conducted by Maazel, recorded on video. His performance of the aria ''"Celeste Aïda"'' received a two-minute ovation on the opening night. He was reunited with Mirella Freni for the San Francisco Opera production of ''La Bohème'' in 1988, also recorded on video. In 1992, La Scala saw Pavarotti in a new Zeffirelli production of ''Don Carlo'', conducted by Riccardo Muti. Pavarotti's performance was heavily criticized by some observers and booed by parts of the audience.

Pavarotti became even better known throughout the world in 1990 when his rendition of Giacomo Puccini's aria, ''"Nessun Dorma"'' from ''Turandot'' was taken as the theme song of BBC's TV coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. The aria achieved pop status and remained his trademark song. This was followed by the hugely successful Three Tenors concert, held on the eve of the World Cup final at the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome with fellow tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras and conductor Zubin Mehta, which became the biggest selling classical record of all time. A highlight of the concert, in which Pavarotti hammed up a famous portion of di Capua's "O Sole Mio" and was mimicked by Domingo and Carreras to the delight of the audience, became one of the most memorable moments in contemporary operatic history. Throughout the 1990s, Pavarotti appeared in many well-attended outdoor concerts, including his televised concert in London's Hyde Park, which drew a record attendance of 150,000. In June 1993, more than 500,000 listeners gathered for his free performance on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park, while millions more around the world watched on television. The following September, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, he sang for an estimated crowd of 300,000. Following on from the original 1990 concert, the Three Tenors concerts were held during the Football World Cups: in Los Angeles in 1994, in Paris in 1998, and in Yokohama in 2002.

In 1995, Pavarotti's friends, the singer Lara Saint Paul (as Lara Cariaggi) and her husband showman Pier Quinto Cariaggi, who had produced and organised Pavarotti's 1990 FIFA World Cup Celebration Concert at the PalaTrussardi in Milan, produced and wrote the television documentary ''The Best is Yet to Come'', an extensive biography about the life of Pavarotti. Lara Saint Paul was the interviewer for the documentary with Pavarotti, who spoke candidly about his life and career.

Pavarotti's rise to stardom was not without occasional difficulties, however. He earned a reputation as "The King of Cancellations" by frequently backing out of performances, and his unreliable nature led to poor relationships with some opera houses. This was brought into focus in 1989 when Ardis Krainik of the Lyric Opera of Chicago severed the house's 15-year relationship with the tenor. Over an eight-year period, Pavarotti had cancelled 26 out of 41 scheduled appearances at the Lyric, and the decisive move by Krainik to ban him for life was well-noted throughout the opera world, after the performer walked away from a season premiere less than two weeks before rehearsals began, saying pain from a sciatic nerve required two months of treatment.

On 12 December 1998, he became the first (and, to date, only) opera singer to perform on Saturday Night Live, singing alongside Vanessa L. Williams. He also sang with U2, in the band's 1995 song ''"Miss Sarajevo"'', and with Mercedes Sosa in a big concert at the Boca Juniors arena La Bombonera in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1999.

In 1998, Pavarotti was presented with the Grammy Legend Award. Given only on special occasions, as of 2007 it has only been awarded 15 times since its first presentation in 1990.

2000s

In 2004, one of Pavarotti's former managers, Herbert Breslin, published a book, ''The King & I''. Seen by many as bitter and sensationalistic, it is critical of the singer's acting (in opera), his inability to read music well and learn parts, and of his personal conduct, although acknowledging their mutual success. In an interview in 2005 with Jeremy Paxman on the BBC, Pavarotti rejected the allegation that he could not read music, although he acknowledged he did not read orchestral scores.

He received an enormous number of awards and honours, including Kennedy Center Honors in 2001. He also holds two Guinness World Records: one for receiving the most curtain calls (165) and another for the best-selling classical album (''In Concert'' by The Three Tenors). (The latter record is thus shared by fellow tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras.)

In late 2003, he released his final compilation - and his first and only "crossover" album, ''Ti Adoro.'' Most of the 13 songs were written and produced by the Michele Centonze who had already helped produce the "Pavarotti and Friends" concerts between 1998 and 2000. The tenor described the album as a wedding gift to Nicoletta Mantovani.

Pavarotti began his farewell tour in 2004, at the age of 69, performing one last time in old and new locations, after more than four decades on the stage. Pavarotti gave his last performance in an opera at the New York Metropolitan Opera on 13 March 2004, for which he received a long standing ovation for his role as the painter Mario Cavaradossi in Giacomo Puccini's ''Tosca.'' On 1 December 2004, he announced a 40-city farewell tour. Pavarotti and his manager, Terri Robson, commissioned impresario Harvey Goldsmith to produce the Worldwide Farewell Tour. His last full-scale performance was at the end of a two-month Australasian tour in Taiwan, in December 2005.

In March 2005, Pavarotti underwent neck surgery to repair two vertebrae. In early 2006, he underwent further back surgery and contracted an infection while in the hospital in New York, forcing cancellation of concerts in the U.S., Canada and the UK.

On 10 February 2006, Pavarotti sang "Nessun Dorma" at the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Turin, Italy at his final performance. In the last act of the opening ceremony, his performance received the longest and loudest ovation of the night from the international crowd. Leone Magiera, who directed the performance, revealed in his 2008 memoirs, ''Pavarotti Visto da Vicino'', that the performance was prerecorded weeks earlier. "The orchestra pretended to play for the audience, I pretended to conduct and Luciano pretended to sing. The effect was wonderful," he wrote. Pavarotti's manager, Terri Robson, said that the tenor had turned the Winter Olympic Committee's invitation down several times because it would have been impossible to sing late at night in the sub-zero conditions of Turin in February. The committee eventually persuaded him to take part by pre-recording the song.

Other work

Film and television

Pavarotti's one venture into film, a romantic comedy called ''Yes, Giorgio'' (1982), was roundly panned by the critics. He can be seen to better advantage in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's adaptation of ''Rigoletto'' for television, released that same year, or in his more than 20 live opera performances taped for television between 1978 and 1994, most of them with the Metropolitan Opera, and most available on DVD.

Humanitarianism

Pavarotti annually hosted the ''"Pavarotti and Friends"'' charity concerts in his home town of Modena in Italy, joining with singers from all parts of the music industry, including Andrea Bocelli, Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Bono, James Brown, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Céline Dion, Elton John, Deep Purple, Queen, George Michael, Sting and the Spice Girls, to raise money for several UN causes. Concerts were held for War Child, and victims of war and civil unrest in Bosnia, Guatemala, Kosovo and Iraq. After the war in Bosnia, he financed and established the Pavarotti Music Centre in the southern city of Mostar to offer Bosnia's artists the opportunity to develop their skills. For these contributions, the city of Sarajevo named him an honorary citizen in 2006.

He performed at benefit concerts to raise money for victims of tragedies such as the Spitak earthquake that killed 25,000 people in northern Armenia in December 1988, and sang Gounod's Ave Maria with legendary French pop music star and ethnic Armenian Charles Aznavour.

He was a close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales. They raised money for the elimination of land mines worldwide. He was invited to sing at her funeral service, but declined to sing, as he felt he could not sing well ''"with his grief in his throat"''. Nonetheless, he attended the service.

In 1998, he was appointed the United Nations Messenger of Peace, using his fame to raise awareness of UN issues, including the Millennium Development Goals, HIV/AIDS, child rights, urban slums and poverty.

In 1999, Pavarotti performed a charity benefit concert in Beirut, to mark Lebanon's reemergence on the world stage after a brutal 15 year civil war. The largest concert held in Beirut since the end of the war, it was attended by 20,000 people who travelled from countries as distant as Saudi Arabia and Bulgaria.

In 2001, Pavarotti received the Nansen Medal from the UN High Commission for Refugees for his efforts raising money on behalf of refugees worldwide. Through benefit concerts and volunteer work, he has raised more than any other individual.

Other honours he received include the ''"Freedom of London Award"'' and The Red Cross ''"Award for Services to Humanity"'', for his work in raising money for that organization, and the 1998 ''"MusiCares Person of the Year"'', given to humanitarian heroes by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.

Death

While undertaking an international "farewell tour", Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2006. The tenor fought back against the implications of this diagnosis, undergoing major abdominal surgery and making plans for the resumption and conclusion of his singing commitments. He died at his home in Modena on 6 September 2007. Within hours of his death, his manager, Terri Robson, noted in an e-mail statement, "The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness".

According to several reports, just before he died, the singer had received both the sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick from the Roman Catholic Church.

Pavarotti's funeral was held in Modena Cathedral. Romano Prodi and Kofi Annan attended. The Frecce Tricolori, the aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Air Force, flew overhead, leaving green-white-red smoke trails. After a funeral procession through the centre of Modena, Pavarotti's coffin was taken the final ten kilometres to Montale Rangone, a village part of Castelnuovo Rangone, and was Buried near his parents' grave. The funeral, in its entirety, was also telecast live on CNN. The Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival Hall flew black flags in mourning. Tributes were published by many opera houses, such as London's Royal Opera House. The Italian football giant Juventus F.C., of which Pavarotti was a lifelong fan, was represented at the funeral and posted a farewell message on its website which said: ''"Ciao Luciano, black-and-white heart"'' referring to the team's famous stripes when they play on their home ground.

Personal life

On 13 December 2003, he married his former personal assistant, Nicoletta Mantovani (born 1969), with whom he already had a daughter, Alice. A second child, Riccardo, did not survive, because of complications at the time of birth in January 2003. Pavarotti is also survived by three other daughters by his first wife Adua, to whom he was married for 34 years: Lorenza, Cristina, and Giuliana. At the time of his death, he had one granddaughter.

Settlement of estate

His first will was opened the day after his death and a second will, within the same month of September. He left an estate outside his native Modena, a villa in Pesaro, a flat in Monte Carlo and three flats in New York City.

Pavarotti's widow's lawyers Giorgio Bernini, Anna Maria Bernini, and manager Terri Robson announced on 30 June 2008 that his family amicably settled his estate – 300 million euros ($ 474.2 million, including $15 million in U.S. assets). Pavarotti drafted two wills before his death: one divided his assets by Italian law, giving half to his second wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, and half to his four daughters; the second gave his U.S. holdings to Mantovani. The judge confirmed the compromise by the end of July 2008. However, a Pesaro public prosecutor, Massimo di Patria, investigated allegations that Pavarotti was not of sound mind when he signed the will. Pavarotti's estate has been settled ''"fairly"'', a lawyer for Pavarotti's widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, said in statements after reports of a dispute between Ms. Mantovani and his three daughters from his first marriage.

See also

Best selling music artists

Notes and references

External links

Official website

Discography (Capon's Lists of Opera Recordings)

''The Times'' obituary

Review of ''The King and I'' at theage.com.au

The Pavarotti Story Decca Records

Pavarotti Video Biography by National Italian American Foundation NIAF

History of the Tenor - Sound Clips and Narration

Category:1935 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Cancer deaths in Italy Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer Category:Grammy Award winners Category:MusiCares Person of the Year Honorees Category:Italian opera singers Category:Italian Roman Catholics Category:Italian tenors Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Operatic tenors Category:People from Modena Category:Performing arts pages with videographic documentation

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	Tina Turner
background	solo_singer
birth name	Anna Mae Bullock
alias	Tina Turner
birth date	November 26, 1939
birth place	Nutbush, Tennessee, United States
occupation	Singer, dancer, author, actress
genre	Rock, folk rock, rock pop, pop, soul, gospel
instrument	Vocals
years active	1958–present
label	EMI, United Artists, Capitol, Parlophone, Virgin
associated acts	The Ike & Tina Turner Revue }}

Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have earned her the title The Queen of Rock 'n' Roll. Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Success followed with a string of hits including "River Deep, Mountain High" and the 1971 hit "Proud Mary". With the publication of her autobiography ''I, Tina'' (1986), Turner revealed severe instances of spousal abuse against her by Ike Turner prior to their 1976 split and subsequent 1978 divorce. After virtually disappearing from the music scene for several years following her divorce from Ike Turner, she rebuilt her career, launching a string of hits beginning in 1983 with the single "Let's Stay Together" and the 1984 release of her fifth solo album ''Private Dancer''.

Her musical career led to film roles, beginning with a prominent role as The Acid Queen in the 1975 film ''Tommy'', and an appearance in ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. She starred opposite Mel Gibson as Aunty Entity in ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' for which she received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, and her version of the film's theme, "We Don't Need Another Hero", was a hit single. She appeared in the 1993 film ''Last Action Hero''.

One of the world's most popular entertainers, Turner has been called the most successful female rock artist and was named "one of the greatest singers of all time" by ''Rolling Stone''. Her combined album and single sales total approximately 180 million copies worldwide. She has sold more concert tickets than any other solo music performer in history. She is known for her energetic stage presence, powerful vocals, career longevity, and widespread appeal. In 2008, Turner left semi-retirement to embark on her ''Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour''. Turner's tour became one of the highest selling ticketed shows of 2008-2009. Turner was born a Baptist, but converted to Buddhism and credits the spiritual chants with giving her the strength that she needed to get through the rough times. Rolling Stone ranked her at 63 on their 100 greatest artists of all time and consider her the ''Queen of the Rock and Roll''.

Early life

Anna Mae Bullock was born in Nutbush, an unincorporated area in Haywood County, Tennessee, on November 26, 1939, the daughter of Zelma Bullock (née Currie), a factory worker, and Floyd Richard Bullock, a Baptist deacon, farm overseer and factory worker. She is of African American, European and a small fraction Native American descent. Bullock long believed her mother had significant Native American ancestry, specifically Navajo and Cherokee. Bullock attended Flag Grove School in Haywood County, Tennessee (the land for the school was sold below market value to the school trustees by Bullock's great great-uncle in 1889). Anna Mae's older sister is named (Ruby) Alline. Their parents took Alline with them when they moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and left younger Anna behind with the grandmother. When Anna was a teenager, she joined her mother and sister in St. Louis following her grandmother's death.

Ike & Tina Turner Revue

In St. Louis, Bullock attended Sumner High School. Around this time, Bullock's sister was taking her to several nightclubs in the city. At Club Imperial one night, Bullock met Mississippi-born rhythm and blues musician Ike Turner and later asked him if she could sing for him. Ike was initially skeptical, but after much persistence on Bullock's part, he decided to let her perform for him. Thus, Bullock became an occasional vocalist in Ike's shows at the age of 18. Going by the name "Little Ann", Bullock was also the spotlight of a soul revue led by Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm band.

Mainstream success

In 1960, when a singer scheduled to record the song, "A Fool in Love", did not appear, Bullock stepped in and recorded the vocals instead. "A Fool in Love" was a huge R&B; hit reaching No. 2, crossing over to the top 30 of the US pop chart. Ike changed Bullock's name to Tina Turner and that of his band to ''The Ike & Tina Turner Revue''. In 1962, the two married in Tijuana, Mexico. (According to Tina's bio on web site, the couple married in 1958.)

Turner raised four sons — Ike Jr. and Michael (from Ike's previous relationship), Craig (born 1958, from her earlier relationship with Raymond Hill, a saxophone player in Ike's band) and Ronald (fathered by Ike; born 1961).

Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, Tina and Ike rose to stardom. As times and musical styles changed, Tina developed a unique stage persona which thrilled audiences of the group's live concerts. Tina and the Revue's backup singers, the Ikettes, wove intricate and electrifying dance routines into their performances and influenced many other artists, including Mick Jagger (for whose 1966 UK tour they opened).

Tina and Ike Turner recorded hits in the 1960s that include "A Fool in Love", "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", "I Idolize You", and "River Deep, Mountain High" with producer Phil Spector in his Wall of Sound style. By the end of the decade, the couple incorporated modern rock styles into their act and began including their interpretations of "Come Together", "Honky Tonk Woman", and "I Want to Take You Higher" to their stage show.

Their high-energy cover version of Creedence Clearwater Revival's 1968 "Proud Mary" remains Turner's signature hit and one of her longest enduring standards. "Proud Mary" was the duo's greatest commercial success, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1971. The single eventually won a Grammy for Best R&B; Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

Decline in popularity

While many of its original recordings failed to make the charts, the Ike and Tina Turner Revue was lauded by the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Sly Stone, Janis Joplin, Cher, James Brown, Ray Charles, Elton John and Elvis Presley. A one night gig at a small, predominantly black supper club could be followed in the same week by a show at a major venue in Las Vegas or a national TV appearance. Ike acted as the group's manager and musical director, making all decisions and ruling the act with an iron fist. While he was a fine musician and an early rock 'n' roll influence, Ike's control of the Revue's management, recording contracts and performances eventually led to their decline as his drug abuse worsened. This controlling (and often violent) atmosphere caused the musicians and backup singers to come and go frequently. Tina later reported being isolated and physically abused by Ike on a regular basis for most of their marriage.

By the 1970s, Tina's personal life and marriage were falling apart. Ike's drug use led to increasingly erratic and physically abusive behavior. Their act was losing speed largely due to Ike's refusal to accept outside management of their recording or touring, as well as the cost of maintaining his allegedly voracious cocaine habit. Touring dates began to decline and record sales were low; their last success was "Nutbush City Limits", a song penned by Tina Turner about her home town, that reached No. 22 on the Hot 100 and No. 4 in the United Kingdom in 1973.

Having opened his own recording studio, Bolic Sound, following the lucrative success of "Proud Mary", Ike produced Tina's first solo album, ''Tina Turns the Country On'' in 1974. It failed to make an impact on the charts, as did Tina's follow-up solo album ''Acid Queen'' (1975), which was released to tie in with Tina's critically acclaimed big-screen debut in the The Who's rock opera, ''Tommy''.

Tina and Ike had a violent fight before an appearance at the Dallas Statler Hilton in July 1976, where Tina was again physically abused. She left Ike that day, fleeing with nothing more than thirty-six cents and a Mobil gas station credit card in her possession. She spent the next few months hiding from Ike while staying with various friends.

Tina would later credit her new-found Nichiren Buddhist faith and chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, which she adopted while visiting a friend in 1974, with giving her the courage to strike out on her own. By walking out on Ike in the middle of a tour, she learned she was legally responsible to tour promoters for the canceled tour. Needing to earn a living, she became a solo performer, supplementing her income with TV appearances on shows such as ''The Hollywood Squares'', ''Donny and Marie'', ''The Sonny & Cher Show'' and ''The Brady Bunch Hour''.

The divorce was made final in 1978 after sixteen years of marriage. Tina later accused Ike of years of severe spousal abuse and rampant drug addiction in her autobiography ''I, Tina'' that was later adapted for the film ''What's Love Got to Do with It?''. In the divorce, she completely parted ways with him retaining only her stage name and assuming responsibility for the debts incurred by the canceled tour as well as a significant IRS lien.

Life after the Revue

In 1978, Tina released her third solo album (and her first album since her separation from Ike) entitled ''Rough'' on EMI Records. It was a departure from the funky rhythm and blues sound of the Revue, and featured strong readings of rock songs, demonstrating the direction she wanted her musical career to progress. The album did not sell well and received no certifications. 1979's disco-infused ''Love Explosion'' album also failed on the charts.

Tina continued to perform shows around the United States and Europe but without any hit albums, her career continued a downward spiral. In 1982, she teamed up with B.E.F. for a remake of the Temptations' "Ball of Confusion". The producers were impressed by the recording so they persuaded her to record a cover of Al Green's ''Let's Stay Together''.

With the underwhelming performance of "Rough" and "Love Explosion", EMI Records parted ways with Turner. She was unable to immediately secure another major label deal as many US and UK labels felt her popularity had passed. Turner divided her time between appearing at small venues in the US and UK (mainly Las Vegas) to keep herself in the public eye, and she remained quite popular as a stage act.

Return to prominence

In December 1983, Turner's cover of "Let's Stay Together" hit No. 6 in the UK and also became a hit in several other European countries. In March 1984, "Let's Stay Together" hit No. 26 on the US Billboard 100 singles chart. The song entered the top-5 on both the R&B; and Dance charts.

In 1984, Turner staged what ''Ebony'' magazine called an "amazing comeback". The album ''Private Dancer'' was released in June 1984, and the hit "Let's Stay Together" would be included on the album.

The second single, "What's Love Got to Do with It", peaked at number one in the US and number three in the UK. It became Turner's only number-one hit in the US.

The single hit the top ten in several European countries. ''Private Dancer'' went on to sell five million copies in the US, and a total of 11 million copies worldwide, though some sources stated the album has sold over twenty million making it her most successful album. Besides "Let's Stay Together" and "What's Love Got to Do With It", the album also yielded the singles "Better Be Good To Me" (US No. 5, UK No. 45); "Private Dancer" (US No. 7, UK No. 26); "I Can't Stand The Rain" (UK No. 57); and "Show Some Respect" (US No. 37). Turner would later win an MTV Video Music Award, two American Music Awards and four Grammy Awards. In February 1985, Turner embarked on her first solo world tour, the Private Dancer Tour, which saw her performing in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. She also collaborated on the USA For Africa song "We Are The World" which helped famine victims in Africa.

After the success of ''Private Dancer'', Turner accepted the role of Aunty Entity, the ruler of Bartertown, in the motion picture ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome''. Upon its release, the film grossed $36 million and Turner received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress. In July, Turner performed at Live Aid alongside Mick Jagger. In August, the first single "We Don't Need Another Hero" was released to promote the soundtrack for ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome''. The single became a hit for Turner, reaching number two in America and number three in the UK. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal and received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. The soundtrack was released and reached the top forty in the US and No. 47 in Canada, and sold one million copies worldwide. In October another Turner soundtrack single, "One of the Living" (US No. 15, UK No. 55), was released. It later won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. In November, a new single was released entitled "It's Only Love", a duet with Bryan Adams. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Subsequent releases

Turner continued her widely successful solo career releasing the album, ''Break Every Rule'', in 1986. That same year, Turner published her autobiography, ''I, Tina'', which she talked about her early life and volatile marriage to Ike Turner. Later that summer, the singer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Turner's ''Break Every Rule'' yielded the US singles of: "Typical Male", "Two People", "Back Where You Started", "What You Get Is What You See", "Break Every Rule", and "Afterglow". ("Typical Male" and "What You Get Is What You See" were the two singles to crack the US top twenty). The album sold approximately four million copies worldwide, with two million of those in the US. In March of the following year, Turner embarked on her Break Every Rule Tour in Munich, Germany. On January 16, 1988, Turner made history when she entered the Guinness World Records alongside Paul McCartney performing in front of the largest paying audience (over 184,000) to see a solo artist in Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In April, Turner's double live album, ''Tina Live in Europe'', was released. In late 1989, Turner released her seventh studio album, ''Foreign Affair'', which included the international smash, "The Best". The single became one of Turner's signature singles. In 1990, she embarked on a hugely successful European tour to promote the album playing to nearly four million fans and touring over 121 shows in Europe.

In 1991, Ike and Tina Turner were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Phil Spector accepted the award on their behalf. That same year, Turner released a compilation album, ''Simply the Best''. Her modern dance-pop cover of "Nutbush City Limits" hit the top thirty in the UK. In 1993, Turner's life story was turned into a box-office film, ''What's Love Got to Do with It?''. Based on ''I, Tina'', the film painted a dark picture of Turner's marriage to singer Ike Turner and her overcoming the marriage through Nichiren Buddhism and chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. While the film was given mixed reviews, its leading actors Angela Bassett, who played Tina, and Laurence Fishburne, who played Ike, ended up with Academy Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively, for their roles. Turner supervised the film's soundtrack, re-recording several songs from her Ike Turner days including "A Fool in Love", "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", "Nutbush City Limits" and "Proud Mary", but otherwise remained uninvolved with the making of the film, and had no interest in seeing it, telling an interviewer "Why would I want to see Ike Turner beat me up again? I haven't dwelled on it; it's all in the past where it belongs." She recorded a cover of The Trammps' "Disco Inferno" and two newer songs, the Lulu cover, "I Don't Wanna Fight" and the R&B; ballad, "Why Must We Wait Until Tonight" (written by Bryan Adams). The soundtrack went platinum in America and yielded Turner's final top ten U.S. single, "I Don't Wanna Fight", which peaked at number nine. Later that year, Turner went out on a sold-out U.S. tour, her first in seven years, to promote the soundtrack. Afterwards, Turner moved to Switzerland and took a year off from the road at the end of the tour. In 1995, Turner returned to recording with the title track for the James Bond film, ''Goldeneye'', written by U2's Bono and The Edge. "Goldeneye" hit the top ten in several European countries. In 1996, Turner's ''Wildest Dreams'' album was released. Due to its later successful world tour and a commercial where she promoted Hanes hosiery, the album hit gold in the U.S. while it went platinum in Europe based on the success of singles such as "Whatever You Want", the cover of John Waite's "Missing You", "Something Beautiful Remains" and the Barry White duet, "In Your Wildest Dreams". In May 1996, Turner embarked on a year-long world tour which again broke concert ticket sales records. The tour lasted into April 1997 and grossed a combined total of $130 million in sales. At the end of the year, Turner and one of her musicians co-wrote an English version of the Italian ballad "Cose della vita" with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti. Their duet became a European hit. In April 1999, Turner opened at the VH-1 special, ''Divas Live '99'', performing several of her 1980s hits and performing with both Elton John and Cher to "Proud Mary". Turner later remarked that she was recording a new album. In November 1999, Turner released the dance single "When the Heartache Is Over", its parent album, "Twenty Four Seven", was released in Europe the following month. In February 2000, the album was released in America and was certified Gold by the RIAA. Later that year, Turner went out on one of her most successful tours of her career. By tour's end, the Twenty Four Seven Tour had become the highest-grossing tour of 2000 according to Pollstar grossing over $100 million. Later, Guinness World Records announced that Turner had sold more concert tickets than any other solo concert performer in music history.

Recent years

In 2002, Tennessee State Route 19 between Brownsville and Nutbush was named "Tina Turner Highway". In 2003, she teamed up with Phil Collins to record the song "Great Spirits" for the Disney film ''Brother Bear''.

In 2004, Turner released a new compilation, ''All the Best'', and released the single "Open Arms". The song became a modestly successful European hit and a modest R&B; hit in America. In 2005, Turner briefly performed on shows such as ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' and ''The View''. ''All the Best'' became Turner's first album to go platinum in the U.S. in over eleven years.

At the end of the year, Turner was recognized by the Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and was elected to join an elite group of entertainers. President Bush commented on Turner's "natural skill, the energy and sensuality", and referred to her legs as "the most famous in show business". Several artists paid tribute to her that night including Oprah Winfrey, Melissa Etheridge (who performed "River Deep - Mountain High" , Queen Latifah (who performed "What's Love Got to Do with It?"), Beyoncé (who performed "Proud Mary"), and the Reverend Al Green (who performed "Let's Stay Together"). Winfrey stated, "We don't need another hero. We need more heroines like you, Tina. You make me proud to spell my name w-o-m-a-n," and "Tina Turner didn't just survive, she triumphed." In November, Turner released ''All the Best - Live Collection'' and it was certified platinum by the RIAA.

In early 2006, the ''All the Invisible Children'' soundtrack was released. Turner sang "Teach Me Again" from the ''All the Invisible Children'' soundtrack with Elisa charted at No. 1 in Italy. In May 2007, Turner returned to the stage to headline a benefit concert for the Cauldwell Children's Charity at London's Natural History Museum. This was her first full show in seven years. Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock released an album paying tribute to singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, entitled ''River: The Joni Letters'' on September 25, 2007, on which Turner contributed her vocals to a version of "Edith and The Kingpin". On October 16, 2007, Carlos Santana released an album entitled ''Ultimate Santana'' which featured Turner singing "The Game of Love", a song originally intended for her to sing, but which was instead released by Santana with Michelle Branch due to demands from the recording label.

On December 12, 2007, Turner issued a brief statement through a spokesperson regarding the death of her former husband Ike Turner: "Tina hasn't had any contact with Ike in more than 30 years. No further comment will be made."

Turner performed with Beyoncé at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2008. It was Turner's first major public performance since her record-breaking Twenty-Four Seven Tour. In addition, she picked up a Grammy as a featured artist on ''River: The Joni Letters''. On May 5, 2008, she performed in a televised concert and interview for the Oprah show at Caesar's Place in Las Vegas with long time friend Cher.

Turner embarked on her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour on October 1, 2008, which began on in Kansas City, Missouri at the Sprint Center. The album, ''Tina!: Her Greatest Hits'', was released in support of the tour.

In 2009, Turner participated in the ''Beyond'' singing project with fellow musicians Regula Curti, Seda Bagcan and Dechen Shak Dagsay. This CD combined Buddhist chants and Christian choral music along with a spiritual message read by Turner. The album was released only in Germany and a handful of other countries.

A new live album was released by Parlophone in September 2009 entitled ''Tina Live''. The double disc set included the full concert recorded in the Netherlands as part of her 50th Anniversary Tour on DVD and selected tracks on CD. It is only Turner's second live album with the first, ''Tina Live in Europe'', being released twenty years previously in 1988.

In April 2010, Turner once again rose to the top of the UK and Scottish singles charts with her 1989 hit record ''The Best'', following an International campaign by her dedicated fans and the supporters of ''Rangers Football Club'' to send the hit to number one in the charts. It subsequently peaked at positions number nine in the UK Singles Chart, number nine in the UK Downloads Chart, and number one in the Scottish Chart.

Personal life

Tina is the younger of two sisters. Her elder sister, (Ruby) Alline Selico (December 1, 1936 – September 4, 2010), helped to contribute to her sister's recordings with Ike Turner, co-writing several songs including the charted hits, "Bold Soul Sister" and "Funkier than a Mosquito's Tweeter".

Turner also had a half-sister, Evelyn Currie, who died in a car crash alongside her cousin Margaret while Turner and Alline were teenagers. Turner barely knew her father, who moved to California after splitting from Turner's mother. Her mother also left Tennessee to live in St. Louis, leaving Turner and her sister to live with their grandmother. Turner stayed behind in Tennessee while sister Ruby (known to family and friends by her middle name), left Tennessee and moved to St. Louis to be near their mother. Turner spent some time as a domestic in Ripley.

In 1956, before Turner turned 17, her grandmother died. At the funeral, Turner was reunited with her mother, who offered to give her a new life in St. Louis. Turner's relationship with her mother grew estranged over the years. Turner, however, has said that the last times she talked to her mother, who died in October 1999, were on good terms.

Turner met Ike Turner in 1956 at a nightclub. Two years later she joined Ike's band. In 1958, a relationship with saxophonist Raymond Hill produced Turner's first child, Craig Bullock (renamed Craig Turner after Turner married Ike). A year later, Turner became romantically involved with Ike. She had Ike's baby; Ronnie Turner, born in 1960. After marrying Ike in 1962, Turner became the adoptive mother of two of Ike's previous children, Ike Jr. and Michael. Turner's much-publicized marriage to Ike was volatile and violent. Over the years Turner would accuse Ike of physically beating her, emotionally abusing her, raping her, and even stubbing cigarettes out on her body.

In 1968, Turner attempted suicide while on tour in Los Angeles, swallowing a reported 90 sleeping pills. She was rushed to the hospital and revived. Later, after still enduring Ike's abuse, a close friend introduced Turner to Buddhism in 1971. Three years later, Turner converted to the Buddhist faith. Finally, in July 1976, Tina left Ike after a violent altercation while en route to a hotel in Dallas, in which she was beaten by Ike. Turner sought refuge in a friend's apartment while Ike was searching for her.

After several months, Ike decided to stop searching. Turner filed for divorce and offered to leave Ike all the couple's monetary assets, but told the courts she wanted to keep the stage name Ike had given her in 1960, as she had worked very hard to make the name ''Tina Turner'' famous. The divorce was finalized in March 1978, and the courts allowed her to keep her stage name.

Awards and accolades

Turner was listed on ''Rolling Stone'''s list "The Immortals — The Greatest Artists of All Time". Turner is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and two of her recordings, "River Deep - Mountain High" (1999) and "Proud Mary" (2003), are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Turner has won 8 Grammy Awards.

Bryan Adams, who toured with her on the Private Dancer Tour, praised Turner's live performances, saying, "I never saw Tina walk through a performance, she always put on a great show, and was gracious and grateful to her audience."

Her legs were noted specifically as she was honored by President George W. Bush.

Discography

Studio albums

''Tina Turns the Country On!'' (1974)

''Acid Queen'' (1975)

''Rough'' (1978)

''Love Explosion'' (1979)

''Private Dancer'' (1984)

''Break Every Rule'' (1986)

''Foreign Affair'' (1989)

''Wildest Dreams'' (1996)

''Twenty Four Seven'' (1999)

Other albums

Soundtracks

''Tommy'' (1975)

''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'' (1985)

''What's Love Got to Do With It'' (1993)

Live albums

''Tina Live in Europe'' (1988)

''VH1 Divas Live '99'' (1999)

''Tina Live'' (2009)

Compilation albums

''Simply the Best'' (1991)

''The Collected Recordings'' (1994)

''All the Best'' (2004)

''Tina!'' (2008)

''The Platinum Collection'' (2009)

Tours

1978–1979: Wild Lady of Rock Tour

1980–1981: Various Shows

1982–1984: Nice 'n' Rough Tour

1985: Private Dancer Tour

1987–1988: Break Every Rule Tour

1990: Foreign Affair Tour

1993: What's Love? Tour

1996–1997: Wildest Dreams Tour

2000: Twenty Four Seven Tour

2008–2009: Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1970		Herself	Documentary
1971		Herself
1975		The Acid Queen
1976	''All This and World War II''	Herself	Documentary
1978		Our Guests at Heartland
1979	''John Denver and the Ladies''	Herself	Variety Show
1985	''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome''	Auntie Entity	Won (1986) - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
		Herself	Singing voice for Angela Bassett, also archive footage
''Last Action Hero''	The Mayor
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1966	''The Big T.N.T. Show''	Herself	Documentary
1970	''It's Your Thing''	Herself	Documentary
1971	''Soul to Soul''	Herself	Documentary
2000	''Ally McBeal''	Herself	cameo appearance one episode: "The Oddball Parade"

References

External links

Tina Turner's Entry on the St. Louis Walk of Fame

Category:1939 births Category:Actors from Missouri Category:Actors from Tennessee Category:African American female singers Category:African American rock musicians Category:African American singers Category:American Buddhists Category:American dancers Category:American expatriates in France Category:American expatriates in Germany Category:American expatriates in Switzerland Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American people of European descent Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American rock singers Category:American singers of Native American descent Category:American soul singers Category:Converts to Buddhism Category:Female rock singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ike & Tina Turner members Category:Living people Category:Music of St. Louis, Missouri Category:Musicians from Missouri Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:People from Haywood County, Tennessee Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Former Baptists

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